Last year, on Dec. 25, 2009, as I was preparing Christmas dinner, I clicked on CNN and my stomach hit the ground. The headline read something like, “Detroit Bomb Plot Foiled.” Despite a number of attacks in the past, I, like so many other Americans, was shocked by this new terrorist plot.
Unfortunately, too many Americans were surprised, including intelligence agents who should have predicted an attack similar to this could happen. Following every new threat, security is reevaluated, a new procedure or element is added to prevent this threat from happening again and, too often, all is forgotten. The Obama administration must vow to protect Americans, but not at the expense of our rights.
Many Republicans are accusing the Obama administration of leniency on terrorism and reminiscing of what used to be.
“They just don’t get it,” Rep. Peter Hoekstra (Mich.) told the Washington Times, referring to the administration, “These are the same weak-kneed liberals who have recently tried to bring Guantanamo Bay terrorists right here to Michigan.”
Former Bush administration staffer Karl Rove has criticized the president’s decision to stay away from press until three (although Rove says four) days after the attempted attack.
“I don’t understand why keeping the president off the stage and then not having him explain it for four days is supposed to reassure us,” he told Sean Hannity on Jan. 4, 20010.
However, as Rachel Maddow pointed out on the Jan. 5, 2010 edition of her MSNBC show, times weren’t as great in the pre-Obama era as Republicans believe. Admittedly, some terrorist plans were foiled by the Bush administrations, but a handful of attacks (or attempts) were not, including one that Rove has apparently forgotten.
On Dec. 21, 2001 Richard Reid became known as the “shoe bomber” after attempting to light a fuse in his shoes on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami. Six days later, President Bush finally addressed the media. Can you explain that Mr. Rove?
Instead of responding to Republican criticisms, the Obama administration is focusing on how to improve security.
“There are those who want to solve the problem and there are those who want to exploit it,” said senior advisor David Axelrod, “This is not time for politics.”
Thus far, the Obama administration has called for increased security at all airports, a number of new additions to the no-fly list and an evaluation of US intelligence. After President Obama admitted “the intelligence community failed to connect the dots,” it’s obvious that more coordination among intelligence agents should be the number one priority for his administration.
On another note, I hope that they realize that singling out particular nations or profiling specific ethnic groups will only bring them more enemies. Finally, the government must vow to constantly reevaluate and reexamine US intelligence. It’s easy to make promises in response to headlines, but they can’t be forgotten after the print begins to fade.
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