Incompetence, or worse ?

[Tallpine]

http://davidswanson.org/node/3665

One has to wonder what U.S. public opinion would make of an Iranian having tried to prevent 9-11.

[TommyGunn]

Things like that frighten me.

~However~

Given that we haven't had a major follow-up attack to 9/11/01 and have uncovered a number of homegrown plots I am not inclined to believe that article on its face.  There must be a bit of hyperbole involved or we'd all be bowing toward Mecca by now.

[mtnbkr]

Things like that frighten me.

~However~

Given that we haven't had a major follow-up attack to 9/11/01 and have uncovered a number of homegrown plots I am not inclined to believe that article on its face.  There must be a bit of hyperbole involved or we'd all be bowing toward Mecca by now.

First, you assume *they* would be capable of attacking again even if we were just as clueless the 2nd time around.  Second, it's safe to say that nobody is making that sort of mistake again, hence the uncovering of other plots.

For the same reason we don't have to worry about planes being taken over again (and not because of the TSA), I don't think we have to worry about large scale plots.  We got our hands slapped and are paying better attention.  Maybe too much considering the attacks on our liberty that have followed 9/11.

Chris

[roo_ster]

We can never forget that GWB's & BHO's FBI invited members of Muslim Brotherhood front groups into the FBI as consultants.  GWB even invited one into the White House.

Incompetence or worse, is right.

[RevDisk]

Most of the other uncovered plots were FBI sting operations. That could not have even become remotely serious threats without FBI assistance. The average Joe on the street does not have a Stinger missile, hundreds of thousands of bucks in cash, et al. So the FBI trolls message boards, mosques, etc offering all of the above, and tosses the now would-be terrorist in the clink whenever some idiot bites. Which, sure, I'm not saying is a bad thing but is disingenuous. "FBI rounds up another idiot" would be a more accurate description.

They also do this to militia groups and whatnot. The Hutaree are an example. From what I understand, virtually all militia groups regularly get fairly obvious plants. This is not exactly new. Hoover did the same thing, as well as blackmailing politicians that may have wanted to reign in his power.

[TommyGunn]

First, you assume *they* would be capable of attacking again even if we were just as clueless the 2nd time around.  Second, it's safe to say that nobody is making that sort of mistake again, hence the uncovering of other plots.

For the same reason we don't have to worry about planes being taken over again (and not because of the TSA), I don't think we have to worry about large scale plots.  We got our hands slapped and are paying better attention.  Maybe too much considering the attacks on our liberty that have followed 9/11.

Chris

I assume nothing.  George Armstrong Custer would appreciate your thinking.
Why assume they won't try both large and small scale attacks?
The one thing they have going for them is they think differently in terms of time.  We wait five years and....nothing.
They're perfectly happy seeing things happen on a much longer time scale.
I'm sure that there has been some infiltration of FBI and other agencies....I am saying I think that IMHO this article is blowing it all out of proportion.
Keep in mind one thing; when an agency finds a "mole," it doesn't necessarily terminate them, arrest them, or otherwise remove them.  In some cases they are kept in place and used to feed information to the enemy which we WANT them to have ~~ disinformation, actually.  It's a great way to mislead an enemy.
This is what could be happening in some cases (though I'm sure probably not all), and thus trying to evaluate what is really happening from the outside can be ... problematic.

[Tallpine]

I am saying I think that IMHO this article is blowing it all out of proportion.

Yeah, there was just that little thing commonly called "Nine-Eleven" that the feds failed to see coming (or saw it coming and decided to just let it happen).

 

[TommyGunn]

Yeah, there was just that little thing commonly called "Nine-Eleven" that the feds failed to see coming (or saw it coming and decided to just let it happen).

 

I seem to recall something happened on that date........

The history is well known.  Flight instructors were approached by AQ and asked to teach them to fly planes, but the AQ terrs didn't care about landing or taking off.  The instructors thought this a tad bizarre and reported it to the FBI, who sat on their hands.  Efrem Zimbalist Jr. would be sooooo proud.
Are you suggesting that the Fibbies who "sat on their hands" were AQ operatives?


It's a tad late to worry about the past.  Best to learn from the mistakes and deal with the here & now and the future.

If you have an idea on just how ...."infiltrated" the FBI and other agencies are and how much of this is actual counterintel work I'd sure like to know.