A Most Courteous War
Monday December 19, 2005
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Have we gone mad? The disclosure in the New York Times - shockingly on the very day of the Senate vote on the Patriot Act - that President Bush authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on cell phone conversations between the US and overseas callers has gotten the Left's tightey whiteys into a huge twist.
On CNN (Friday) with Paul Begala, and on Fox (Saturday) with Bob Beckel, you would have thought that George W. Bush had � had � I don't know, ordered people of Arabic descent into detention camps.
Dear Mr. Mullings:
Are you comparing President Bush's authorization of wiretaps to the order by the Sainted Franklin Delano Roosevelt to put people of Japanese ancestry into detention camps during World War II? Is that what you're doing?
Signed,
The Lloyd Bentsen Society
I am suggesting that FDR understood that we were at war. And, when you are at war you do things, to protect Americans, which you would never do if you were NOT at war.
We knew Franklin Roosevelt; Franklin Roosevelt was a friend of ours, George W. Bush is no �
Oh, shut up.
First of all, the National Security Agency (NSA) was authorized to intercept communications between the US and foreign locations only. They are still not allowed to tap domestic communications without a court order.
Second, this has not been an operation carried out in a vacuum. The top Republicans AND the top Democrats on both the House and Senate Intelligence Committees were informed of this activity right after 9/11 and, as those positions have been taken by new people, the new Representatives and Senators have likewise been brought into the loop.
This minor fact - that the appropriate Members of Congress have been kept fully informed - has been either buried in the 27th graf or ignored completely by the Popular Press.
Third, there are strict limits on whom the NSA can wiretap - it affects about 500 people at a time (out of 300 MILLION people living in the US) and the order has been reviewed - according to the President - about every 45 days to ensure it is not being misused.
Fourth, and this is important, there has not been a successful attack against Americans on US soil since this order went into effect.
I said to Mr. Beckel that the last time anyone thought that a "Gentlemanly War" was a good idea was somewhere around the time of the American Revolution. That didn't, as we have learned since second grade, work out all that well for the Redcoats.
We forget things too quickly. We forget things like Al Jazzera running videos of assassins chopping off the heads of non-combatants simply because they are from the West. How many people can remember why Daniel Pearl was once in the news?
The people we are fighting are murderers. Mass murderers. They want to kill all of us. They know they can't so they will try to kill as many of us as possible in as many places as possible thereby making our lives as unpleasant as possible.
A few wiretaps? Here's what I said to Wolf Blitzer after Mr. Begala finished telling the CNN audience how shocked he was at the revelation of the wiretapping: "I agree with Paul. I, too, am shocked. But I'm shocked to find out this hasn't been going on all along.
I want to share with you an e-mail from former fraternity brother, and still great friend, Tom Sweet:
Rich - On a flight, last evening, several young Marines going home for Christmas leave from assignment in Iraq were on my plane.
Quizzed about their experiences in Iraq, these Marines said that the progress they were making was so positive on all fronts, and that the Iraqis were extremely nice to them, appreciative of all their efforts, etc.
They spoke about the one-sided media coverage in the US, portraying Iraq as a complete mess. While the Marines acknowledged that it wasn't all pleasant at times, they said were trained to handle combat situations extremely well, when necessary.
One Marine said that he voluntarily extended his tour of duty there to help of the Iraqi people even more.
Everyone thanked the Marines for what they are doing, and wished them a Merry Christmas. Made me proud of these young men.
We are so blessed, aren't we?
Tom
Yes, my friend. We are.
On the Secret Decoder Ring today: Links to the Wikipedia entry of Lloyd Bensten and the answer to the Daniel Pearl question; another silly Mullfoto; and a powerful Catchy Caption of the Day.
--END --
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