Ashcroft: Al-Qaida Arrest a 'Severe Blow' By JESSE J. HOLLAND, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - Attorney General John Ashcroft (news - web sites) told Congress Tuesday that a major al-Qaida arrest over the weekend "is a severe blow to al-Qaida that could destabilize their terrorist network worldwide." Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, was "the brain" of Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s al-Qaida organization and bin Laden's "senior terrorist attack planner," Ashcroft told the Senate Judiciary Committee (news - web sites). "Next to bin Laden, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was the FBI (news - web sites)'s most wanted terrorist," Ashcroft said. OK, it may just be me, but I don't feel a great sense of relief or catharsis, or anything after this arrest. I'm starting to get the feeling that the Bush administration has been playing look at the bunny lately. You know what I'm talking about... you were a little kid at Sears or KMart or whatever and you are screaming your head off cuz you want yo' mommy but the photo jockey has a bunny puppet... LOOK AT THE BUNNY LOOK AT THE BUNNY... just long enough to distract you and take your snapshot for posterity. So the gov't says in my left hand I've got an economy that sucks but you're not paying attention to that cuz I'm hunting terrorists over here... look I caught one! Granted he's a major bad guy and the world would be better off without him, but is that gonna affect Joe American's daily life? There is a critical situation brewing where a major allie in the Korean Peninsula is being threatened, again, but I don't want you to see that because we got crazy ol' Saddam over here acting like crazy Joe the car salesman (if you need to hide a scud go see Cal, err Saddam.) Maybe I'm getting a little too flippant about this but I've seen this wag the dog game way too many times from both Repubs and Dems. This is why when election time rolls around I get REAL pissed off because the choices seem like a decision between a finger smashed in a car door or a kick in groin, neither is an attractive alternative. Oh ya, and I'll save some of you the trouble, this IS the greatest country in the world, I agree; but that doesn't mean I should be complacent about the things I don't like about it, right?
You have every right to complain...that's all good. I disagree, though. I think you drastically underestimate how important it is to capture guys like this...particularly this guy who was charged with reorganizing Al Qaeda in the wake of military action in Afghanistan. Like the KKK and the Mob before it, the best way to hit a terror group is to cut off the head...this guy is at the very head. I read an article today earlier where a terrorism expert was speaking to the NY police telling them how significant getting this guy was...he said this will seriously set back Al Qaeda. Yes, there are all kinds of threats all over the world...there always have been...evil never goes away. But don't let that affect your view on the significance of locking up these guys...thereby saving lives as we extract more information about their plans.
Pakistan said on Tuesday Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, was probably in Afghanistan after being handed over to U.S. interrogators. "He is somewhere in this region," Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed told Reuters. "Most probably he is in Afghanistan." The Islamabad government said he left Pakistan on Tuesday morning, though U.S. officials said on Monday that Mohammed, their biggest catch so far in the global war on terror, was already in their custody outside the country. Ok do we have this guy or not? Is he enjoying the hot poker in the rear without the benefit of the liquor in the front?
A strange world when it wouldn't suprise me if it actually said "Senior Terrorist Attack Planner" on the guys business cards
