One could make a strong case that the Bush administration has been negligent in its handling of post-Invasion Iraq, as well as its handling of the domestic insurgency here at home. It becomes more clear everyday that the Democrats are guilty not of negligence, but of criminal ignorance when it comes to Iraq and the war.
Take the new chair of the House Intelligence Committee (please) Silvestre “I Don’t Know Shiite” Reyes. “Chairman” Reyes was recently asked some basic Al Qaeda 101 questions by a reporter for Congressional Quarterly and he flunked badly,
A reporter recently directed the questions about Islam to Texas Democratic Rep. Silvestre Reyes. Reyes failed, which would perhaps not be a big deal if Reyes were an ordinary congressman.
But heâ??s not. Come January, Reyes will chair the House Intelligence Committee, which oversees all U.S. intelligence activity, a good portion of which is directed toward the war on terror.
Reyes could not tell Congressional Quarterlyâ??s national security editor Jeff Stein whether al Qaeda was made up of Sunnis or Shiites. From Steinâ??s scathing column on the exchange:â??Al Qaeda, they have both,â? Reyes said. â??Youâ??re talking about predominately?â?Â
â??Sure,â? I said, not knowing what else to say.
â??Predominantly â?? probably Shiite,â? he ventured.â?Â
Now today we get word from ABC News, that noted member of the vast right wing conspiracy, that Al Qaeda in Iraq was not only behind attacks all across that country, but planning attacks in this country.
Details Emerge About Possible Terror Threat
Suspects, Reportedly Tied to Al Qaeda in Iraq, Sought Student Visas
WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2007 â?? Mimicking the hijackers who executed the Sept. 11 attacks, insurgents reportedly tied to al Qaeda in Iraq considered using student visas to slip terrorists into the United States to orchestrate a new attack on American soil.
Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, recently testified that documents captured by coalition forces during a raid of a safe house believed to house Iraqi members of al Qaeda six months ago “revealed [AQI] was planning terrorist operations in the U.S.”
Has anyone asked Nancy Pelosi about this? After all, she told us recently that Al Qaeda was NOT in Iraq and she knew so because of the 9/11 Commission. Seriously, that’s what she said.
House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told reporters on Wednesday that she feels it is “sad” that President Bush continues to blame Iraqi insurgent violence on al Qaeda.
“My thoughts on the president’s representations are well-known,” Pelosi said. “The 9/11 Commission dismissed that notion a long time ago and I feel sad that the president is resorting to it again.”
Never mind the fact that the 9/11 Commission in no way addressed the issue of Al Qaeda in Iraq. This women, the newly elected Speaker of the House, is on record as saying Al Qaeda is not operating in Iraq.
That very weekend, Tim Russert of Meet the Press, demonstrated his grasp of Democrat talking points by repeating Pelosi’s assertion to Stephen Hadley, the National Security Adviser. Russert’s questioning, and Hadley’s responses, are very illuminating,
Tim Russert asked National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley to explain why President George W. Bush keeps harping on al Qaeda while discussing the insurgency in Iraq.
“Whenever the administration seems to be having trouble with Iraq, in terms of its message, al Qaeda comes front and center,” said Russert, before showing a clip of President Bush blaming insurgent violence on al Qaeda at a press conference during his visit to Estonia last week.
“Because it’s true, Tim,” Hadley responded.
Russert then asked, “It’s true, what?”
“It’s true,” Hadley insisted. “If you look at what Zarqawi said, who was the lead al Qaeda operative in Iraq, he articulated very early on a strategy for provoking sectarian violence by attacking Shi’a so they, in turn, would attack Sunni. This was part of their strategy to sow chaos, to thwart the advance of democracy and make Iraq a safe haven for terror.”
Hadley explained that despite the fact that Qaeda attacks comprised the “small[est] fraction of the total of incidents…they are responsible for some of most heinous incidents — the car bombings and other things that result in the massive — the large civilian casualties, and it is those casualties and those incidents that have provoked the reprisals that the president has talked about.”
“It’s very important for the American people to understand that there is a key al Qaeda piece in all of this, and that is why one of the principal responsibilities we have, the challenges we have, is to deal with al Qaeda in Iraq,” Hadley said.
Hadley added that Qaeda in Iraq was as much as a threat as Shiite death squads.
Four years in and the Democrats haven’t a clue who we are fighting or why. They only thing they have proven is that they have ZERO interest in fighting any longer. I feel safer already.