The Last Straw

I'm afraid that most American's may have missed that momentous day last week when what was left of the Constitution was shredded.

Same Song, Second Verse, A Little Bit Louder and a Whole Lot Worse

I'm not sure what to make of this source - Ynetnews.com. But is sounds like more of the neocon quest to destabilize the Middle East. (Could this be disinformation for an attack before 2007? Note that the "General" retired in 1994 and now works for Fox News.)

"US General: Strikes on Iran possible by 2007

US Air Force General reveals details of possible US aerial offensive against Iran should diplomacy fail to solve dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambition; says 'doing it alone' is not an option for Israel

Yitzhak Benhorin

WASHINGTON - Is it possible to halt Iran's nuclear program by military means? For years, this question has been asked by Israeli and US military officials.

Israel prefers Washington to act on its behalf but academics, left-wing politicians and experts say a military option is not on the cards for the Bush administration because of the situation in Iraq.

You want a piece of me?

But retired US Lieutenant General Thomas McInerney thinks otherwise. There is a good military solution to Iran's nukes but it requires courage and determination to act Mcinerney told Ynet in an interview.

McInerney served as a pilot and a strategic commander in the US Air Force for 35 years. Following his retirement in 1994 he served as a commentator for Fox News.

McInerney said Iran should be attacked by fall 2007 if diplomacy fails.

He added that an aerial attack should be backed by a secret land operation aimed at deposing the Ayatollahs.

McInerney said a military operation against Iran should aim at destroying 1,500 targets within 24 to 36 hours, which would delay Iran's nuclear ambitions by at least five years.

He added that paralyzing the Iranian air force and the Shihab 3 missiles aimed at Israel would be among the goals of a US military offensive against Iran.

He said the Iranian Navy should also be destroyed to prevent Tehran from blocking the Persian Gulf.

Overthrowing the Ayatollahs
The retired general estimates that such offensive would significantly destabilize the Ayatollah's regime.

Asked whether the exiled Iranian opposition is capable of governing Iran once the Ayatollahs are ousted, McInerney said the Iranian nation is divided and many citizens opposed to the Ayatollahs would attempt to take power.

Over 4,300 protests took place in Iran last year, he said.

He also noted that only 51 percent of Iranians are Persians while 49 percent belong to different ethnic groups.

He added that the Ayatollahs can be ousted if the US clandestinely supports opposition groups within Iran.

A US aerial attack against Iran would involve the following stages, says Mcinerney:

- 60 stealth aircraft, B-2, and F-117, would take part in the initial attack

- The second aerial wave would involve 400 aircraft (B-52, B-1, F-15, F-16 and F-18)

- 150 aircraft special aircraft would be dispatched for refueling and intelligence collection missions

- 500 cruise missiles would be fired at targets in Iran from US warships

The B-2 is capable of firing 80 250-kilogram bombs at 80 different targets simultaneously.

Diverting his attention to the importance of possessing key intelligence for a successful assault, McInerney expressed confidence in his country's intelligence-gathering capability.

He added however that hitting 20 to 50 percent of Iran's military targets is enough to loosen the Ayatollahs' grab on Iran.

He noted that although Israel's military campaign had some flaws, Hizbullah lost 25 percent of its fighters and refused to release injured figures, signs that group is in a difficult position after the war.

Asked if 'going it alone' is an option for Israel, McInerney praised Israel's aerial capabilities but warned that the lack of aircraft carriers and the geographical distance make it extremely difficult for Israel to carry out a successful offensive against Iran.

McInerney said that the Ayatollahs would seek the opportunity to leave the country to Switzerland where they hold large accounts should military commanders seek to overthrow them.

The general said should diplomacy fail, the US would consider military options against Tehran within a year at the latest, charging the west should not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.

Iranian threats to launch attacks against western countries, Iraq and Israel through sleeping terror cells proves Tehran's link to terror groups like Hizbullah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad.

He concluded that a diplomatic solution is preferable but without a serious military option in the cards, diplomacy would fail and the US should be ready to act."

Hello America

America may be in for a bad "Sunburn".






"When corrupt politicians and military contractors in America decided to control the world by building monolithic aircraft carriers, known politely in New York as "Instruments of American Foreign Policy", Russia did not bother to compete. It could have done so easily, but chose instead to find more economical ways of destroying this massive seaborne American menace. This was achieved by the "Sunburn" and "Onyx" supersonic sea-skimming missiles, which have never been known to miss their targets.

Note here that both missiles have a range of less than 250 miles at best, proving they are designed for purely defensive use. None have been fitted to strategic bombers in order to attack American ships in American waters, but will unquestionably be used to sink any American aircraft carrier stupid enough to get within 250 miles of Russia or one of its close allies. Thus these missiles have completely neutered America's "Instruments of Foreign Policy" at a cost of just one million dollars per round.

At the tactical level, these weapons are equally useful. American foreign policy has been getting dangerously close to Iran and Syria during the last two years, and both sovereign states are now equipped with either Sunburn or Onyx, both of which are nuclear capable. So if America is stupid enough to attack Iran, it will almost certainly lose at least one Carrier battle group in the Persian Gulf to these unstoppable weapons, making the odds too high." click on title to read more ...

Hello Iran

Executive Order Sends U.S. Ships to Hormuz

Lowtide

I just spent a week on the North Carolina beach, thinking I might gain a new perspective on the hell-in-a-hand basket to which this country is headed. Every day was perfect; weather, water, and the friends I was with.

And I did gain a new perspective when I got back: its worse than I thought it was. As in this from Chris Hedges

"The aircraft carrier Eisenhower, accompanied by the guided-missile cruiser USS Anzio, guided-missile destroyer USS Ramage, guided-missile destroyer USS Mason and the fast-attack submarine USS Newport News, is, as I write, making its way to the Straits of Hormuz off Iran. The ships will be in place to strike Iran by the end of the month. It may be a bluff. It may be a feint. It may be a simple show of American power. But I doubt it." continue reading...

And from the comments to the article: "We have only one chance of showing our horror at the possible war with Iran. Pass the word, sound the alarm, the day we bomb Iran close down the country with a total general strike."

Too little, too late.

Why the Jets Weren't Scrambled

Is it possible that on the day of 9/11 we were conducting military exercises about airplanes flying into the WTC and that false radar images showing 20 hijacked airplanes were created as part of this exercise? AND that Cheney had been put in charge of NORAD some months before? Read a heart-felt letter from SGT Lauro Chavez, United States Central Command, who was there:

"I'll start by saying a few months prior it was announced by President Bush that Dick Cheney would be heading up operations over NORAD our North American Aerospace Defense Command. Along with many of my peers, we were shocked. Over the years, if you research NORAD, it has always been under the command of a Military officer. It was done this way because the defense of this country has always been in the hands of such. Prior to the months before 9-11 this was all of the sudden changed. Like I said, if you research NORAD and the command structureyou will find that it was imposed long ago that the military should be in control of the order to scramble planes in the defense of American air space. For some strange reason, Bush changed this and gave that power to a civilian person on his Staff team. Yes I know, very interesting.

"How is it possible to have a training exercise about planes hitting the WTC and then actually have planes hit the WTC? This kind of thing just does not happen unless its pre-planned. What reason would there be to have this type of exercise on that morning? I'll tell you if you are placing fake planes all over the north American aerospace grid then you have no way of knowing which planes are real and which are fake. Then to thicken the plot you put a civilian in charge of NORAD so that the military does not have the power to initiate the order for jets to be scrambled to intercept. If the military would have still commanded power over NORAD they would have scrambled jets because they would have simply followed the procedures that had been in place for this type of situation for years and years and scrambled jets."

Read the entire letter.

Their Cycle of Warnings is Complete

Who goes first?

I understand that Muslims must warn their enemies of impending attacks. According to Christiane Amanpour, Osama has been given religious approval "by a young cleric in Saudi Arabia authorizing al Qaeda to "use nuclear weapons against the United States ... capping the casualties at 10 million."

They are talking about the next attack on the U.S., reportedly involving nuclear suitcase bombs in 7 cities, flown over the Mexican border in a hijacked crop duster and already in place, which will "reduce America to ashes."

And more specifically, from here, an interview with Abu Dawood (highlighting is mine)

"Mr. Mir interviewed Dawood (no specific date indicated) at the tomb of Sultan Mehmud Ghaznawi, on the outskirts of Kabul. Dawood and the al Qaeda leaders who accompanied him sported short beards and were dressed casually, for disguise. The al Qaeda commander had contacted Mir by cell-phone to arrange the meeting. The contents of the encounter are as follows:

Q: How did you have my local mobile number?

A: We watched you on Geo TV walking in the mountains near Kabul with British troops. You were embedded with our enemies. We were sure that you are staying in one of the few hotels or guest houses in Kabul. We were looking for you in Serena and Intercontinental hotels, but then some Taliban friends informed us that they had your phone number and you might visit them in Zabul [an Afghani province]. We got your number from Commander [Muhsen] Khayber. [Khayber was responsible for a homicide bombing in Casablanca that killed 32 people]. Don't worry about that. We will not make any harm to you. We just want to warn you that you better don't take any rides in the tanks and humvis of the Western Forces; they are not safe for any journalist in Afghanistan.

Q: Thanks for your concern; can I know your name?

A: Yes my name is Abu Dawood, if you remember, we have already met in Kunar two years ago, but at that time I had a long beard, now I have a small one. You were there in the mountains, close to Asadabad [a small village in the Kunar province of eastern Afghanistan] and you met some Al Qaeda fighters. I was among them.

Q: OK. I just want to say that I am a journalist, I have to speak to both sides of a conflict, for getting an objective view and that is why I was traveling with the British troops; now I am sitting with you and that is my real job. I have interviewed Osama bin Laden as well as Condoleezza Rice, General Pervez Musharraf and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan. I hope you will appreciate my objective approach?

A: You have claimed to be objective, but you and your TV channel have always given much time to the propaganda of our enemies. Anyhow, it was our moral responsibility to warn you that you better try to avoid traveling with the British, American, Canadian, French, Spanish and Italian troops in Afghanistan, we will target all of them, we don't want that people like you suffer by our attacks, it is not good for you, and at least you should not be killed with the enemies of Islam. I am sure, brother Khayber have informed you that the Taliban will launch a big operation against the Crusader Forces, in the holy month of Ramadan; don't come to Afghanistan in Ramadan. You will see a lot of fadaee amalyat ["suicide bombings"] in the coming days, Kabul will become a graveyard of NATO and ISAF.

Q: Yes Khayber told me about the "Badar Operation" in Ramadan. I think you are an Afghani but you are not a Talib, are you a member of Al Qaeda?

A: You are right. But we are with the Taliban, just helping them, fighting under their command. Every Al Qaeda fighter can become a Talib, but every Talib cannot become Al Qaeda.

Q: So where is Sheikh Osama bin Laden?

A: I don't know exactly, but he is still in command of Al Qaeda, and he is in contact with his Mujaheddin all over the world.

Q: Why there was no new video statement from him, in last two years?

A: Because the CIA can feed his fresh picture to the computers fitted on their Predator planes, and these planes can get him, like Nek Muhammad or Akbar Bugti. But he has released many audio messages this year. Listen to him carefully. Don't underestimate his warnings. America is playing with the security of Muslims all over the world, now it is our turn again. Our brothers are ready to attack inside America. We will breach their security again. There is no timeframe for our attack inside America; we can do it any time.

Q: What do you mean by another attack in America?

A: Yes a bigger attack than September 11th 2001. Brother Adnan [el Shukrijumah] will lead that attack, Inshallah.

Q:Who is Adnan?

A: He is our old friend. The last time, I met him in early 2004, in Khost. He came to Khost from the North Waziristan. He met his leaders and friends in Khost. He is very well known in Al Qaeda. He is an American and a friend of Muhammad Atta, who led 9/11 attacks five years ago. We call him "Jaffer al Tayyar" ["Jafer the Pilot"]; he is very brave and intelligent. Bush is aware that brother Adnan has smuggled deadly materials inside America from the Mexican border. Bush is silent about him, because he doesn't want to panic his people. Sheikh Osama bin Laden has completed his cycle of warnings. You know, he is man of his words, he is not a politician; he always does what he says. If he said it many times that Americans will see new attacks, they will definitely see new attacks. He is a real Mujahid. Americans will not win this war, which they have started against Muslims. Americans are the biggest supporters of the biggest terrorist in the world, which is Israel. You have witnessed the brutality of the Israelis in the recent 34-day war against Lebanese civilians. 9/11 was a revenge of Palestinian children, killed by the US-made weapons, supplied to Israel. The next attack on America would be a revenge of Lebanese children killed by US-made cluster bombs. Bush and Blair are the Crusaders, and Muslim leaders, like Musharraf and [Afghani President Hamid] Karzai are their collaborators, we will teach a lesson to all of them. We are also not happy with some religious parties in Pakistan and Egypt, they got votes in the name of Mujaheddin, and then, they collaborated with Musharraf and [Egyptian President] Hosni Mubarak. Now look at all of them, Musharraf and Karzai don't trust each other, the CIA and ISI don't trust each other, all the hypocrites and enemies of Mujaheddin are suspecting each other; this help to us is coming from Heavens. Allah is with us.

Q: But if you attack inside America again, then Muslims living in America will face lot of problems, why would you like to create new problems for your brothers and sisters?

A: Muslims should leave America. We cannot stop our attack just because of the American Muslims; they must realize that American forces are killing innocent Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq; we have the right to respond back, in the same manner, in the enemy's homeland. The American Muslims are like a human shield for our enemy; they must leave New York and Washington.

Q: But your fighters are also using the American Muslims as their shield, if there are no Muslims in America, then there would be no Al Qaeda, may be the Americans would feel safer?

A: No, not at all. We have a different plan for the next attack. You will see. Americans will hardly find out any Muslim names, after the next attack. Most of our brothers are living in Western countries, with Jewish and Christian names, with passports of Western countries. This time, someone with the name of Muhammad Atta will not attack inside America, it would be some David, Richard or Peter.

Q: So you will not attack America, while Muslims are there?

A: I am not saying that, I am saying that Muslims must leave America, but we can attack America anytime. Our cycle of warnings has been completed, now we have fresh edicts from some prominent Muslim scholars to destroy our enemy, this is our defending of Jihad; the enemy has entered in our homes and we have the right to enter in their homes, they are killing us, we will kill them.

Krauthammer's Crystal Ball

Strait of Hormuz

The Tehran Calculus

By Charles Krauthammer
Friday, September 15, 2006

In his televised Sept. 11 address, President Bush said that we must not "leave our children to face a Middle East overrun by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons." There's only one such current candidate: Iran.

The next day, he responded thus (as reported by Rich Lowry and Kate O'Beirne of National Review) to a question on Iran: "It's very important for the American people to see the president try to solve problems diplomatically before resorting to military force."

"Before" implies that the one follows the other. The signal is unmistakable. An aerial attack on Iran's nuclear facilities lies just beyond the horizon of diplomacy. With the crisis advancing and the moment of truth approaching, it is important to begin looking now with unflinching honesty at the military option.

The costs will be terrible:

· Economic . An attack on Iran is likely to send oil prices overnight to $100 or even to $150 a barrel. That will cause a worldwide recession perhaps as deep as the one triggered by the Iranian revolution of 1979.

Iran might suspend its own 2.5 million barrels a day of oil exports and might even be joined by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, asserting primacy as the world's leading anti-imperialist. But even more effectively, Iran will shock the oil markets by closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40 percent of the world's exports flow every day.

Iran could do this by attacking ships in the Strait, scuttling its own ships, laying mines (ed. note: already done in 2005) or just threatening to launch Silkworm anti-ship missiles at any passing tanker. (continue reading)

I'm Beginning to Feel Less Safe

George Foresman

Fake hackers beat Homeland Security

If they had been real, we would have been toast
By Nick Farrell: Thursday 14 September 2006, 06:44

A REPORT into a huge Homeland Security exercise to test to see if the US is ready for a large scale cyber attack has revealed that the country can’t handle cyber terrorism.

The exercise, which was held in February, revealed huge gaps in the way that government agencies and companies handled such attacks.

The hackers managed to infiltrate computer servers, crash the Federal Aviation Administration's control system, deface newspaper Web sites and threaten power outages.

The report, made public yesterday, said that responders could not work out if the series of simulated hackings were isolated or part of a coordinated assault. Organisations involved made the mistake of treating incidents as individual and discrete events, rather than seeing a bigger picture.

Homeland security undersecretary, George Foresman, said it was clear that the department could not yet measure America's cybersecurity preparedness. Probably because it is impossible to measure zero with a conventional ruler.

More here.

Terra Naomi Sings "Up Here"

Oh No I Didn't

Shaukat Aziz

Big ol' flip-flop right here. I guess his chain got pulled...

Pakistan: No bin Laden arrest deal

POSTED: 0220 GMT (1020 HKT), September 6, 2006

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Pakistan's prime minister has disputed a news report that said Osama bin Laden would not face capture if he agreed to lead a "peaceful life."

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told CNN on Wednesday that "anybody who is wanted or is a terrorist or has committed acts of terror anywhere in the world and is wanted, there is no immunity for such people."

And, Aziz added, that "this notion that anybody who has a record as a terrorist will get safe haven -- we would not even think of doing that."

The detail about the al Qaeda leader came in an ABC news report about Tuesday's signing of a peace agreement between pro-Taliban tribal leaders and the government, a pact designed to end violence in the restive northern Waziristan region along the Pakistan-Afghan border.

ABC quoted Pakistani officials as saying that bin Laden would not be subject to capture in Pakistan, if he agreed to lead a "peaceful life."

He "would not be taken into custody ... as long as one is being like a peaceful citizen," the network quoted Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan as saying.

While Aziz expressed incredulity at the idea that bin Laden would be immune from capture, he called the agreement with tribal leaders "very wise." Bin Laden is thought to be hunkering down somewhere along the rugged border region.

"We are at peace with this agreement," said Aziz.

Unknown creature was found by soldiers

Ok, this is Astounding News.

9/11 Conspiracy

As regular readers may remember, I found the films of the 9/11 conspiracy movement to be "Astounding" and began to believe some of the points they made. Now comes Cannonfire with a rebuttal to the major conspiracy points. Go here and read the blog and the items in the top left-hand column and decide for yourself.

Sounds of Sound Money

Thanks to the Free Market News Network for introducing Steve Dore and his musical talents to us. Click on picture to listen to "Golden Eagles".

How They Stand Up When We Stand Down

You know, like before, when Rumsfeld said "Stuff happens".

Fri, Aug. 25, 2006
Military base turned over to Iraqi forces is looted the next day

By Mark Brunswick
McClatchy Newspapers

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Hours after the British turned over a military base to Iraqi control, looters picked it clean, driving up in trucks and making off with roofing, windows, and plumbing after clashing with outnumbered Iraqi soldiers.

About 1,200 British forces withdrew on Thursday from Abu Naji, a camp near Amarah in southern Maysan province. The base had been targeted repeatedly with mortar fire, and shortly after the British left, members of the Shiite-controlled Mahdi Army passed out pamphlets claiming credit for the British retreat. The camp had been targeted for mortar and rocket fire almost daily.

Looters arrived at the camp within hours after the final British soldiers left at noon on Thursday. Iraqi soldiers put up resistance and later fired on the crowds who had gathered. There were reports of some injuries for both Iraqi forces and civilians but no fatalities.

The looting was an indication of the tenuous hold Iraqi authorities have on the countryside, though a police spokesman for the region denied any looting occurred. An Iraq Army source said that as many as 2,000 people surrounded the camp at one point.

Spokesmen for the Iraqi Defense Ministry and the British military said the departure was part of what was a planned relinquishing of control to local Iraqi forces.

Major Charlie Burbridge, a spokesman for the British military, said the camp had become an easy target but denied militia activity had precipitated the move. British forces already had removed most significant equipment and had anticipated that leaving would attract looting in a region that suffers dramatically from poverty.

The looting that resulted, he said, "was more of an attempt to improve one's quality of life by making off with an air conditioner. The crux of the issue is economic, its not malice. Call it a peace dividend."

Burbridge said the mortar and rocket attacks had no impact on the decision to re-deploy the troops. In three years, the base had been under frequent mortar attack but there were no fatalities. "They were more of a nuisance than anything else," he said in a telephone interview from Basra.

Defense Ministry spokesman, Mohammed al Askari, would not comment on claims that militia forced the British to leave.

"All I can say is that the British forces left the place to the Iraqi army according to a deal with the Ministry of Defense," Askari said. "The deal dictated to deliver the camps to the Iraqi forces whenever these forces reach the needed level of readiness and ability to handle the security responsibilities. More locations and camps will be delivered in the coming two months."

About half the British forces that withdrew have been directed southeast to the border with Iran to combat weapons smuggling and to provide a buffer zone to deter militia activity before it reaches urban areas, Burbridge said.

What Goes Around is Coming Around

If you are not familiar with Depleted Uranium I suggest you Google it and educated yourself - because you will be breathing it soon if you are not already. Used only by the US and Isreal, this still radioactive dust is created every time a bomb, missle, or bullet made of it is used. And, oh, by the way, it has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. See ya later....

"Yes it travels... very rapidly at relatively low altitude in the troposphere, and is carried by westerlies, trade winds, convection cells, and air currents, not to mention the sand and dust storms which are characteristic of arid regions. It is traveling west across the Atlantic on the westerlies at about 10,000 feet, north into Europe, and east where it is blowing off the Himalayas and contaminating northern India.

We are now in a global diabetes epidemic since 1991 as a result of global contamination from depleted uranium. India now has 39 million diabetics and expects 50 million by 2010 (in third world countries 80% is undiagnosed). The US Centers for Disease Control reported in 1980 that there were 5.7 million diagnosed cases of diabetes. That number increased by 1 million in a decade, in 1990, to 6.7 million.

Between 1990 and 2002 the number increased to 13.5 million, with the largest increase of 2 million in a single year between 1996-97. That was the year Clinton did heavy grid and carpet bombing... now we know it was with massive amounts of depleted uranium dirty bombs. This huge increase in diabetes is consistent with Japanese public health increases in diabetes and cancer mortality as well as other radiation related illnesses, also increases in India, and the UK.

This planet is enveloped in depleted uranium radioactive poison dust, and with all the other problems, it is causing the greatest mass extinction in 65 million years since the dinosaurs went extinct. 50% of the worlds species will be extinct within 100 years. Infertility in humans is an increasing problem now, with only 15% of sperm in men globally which is normal. It used to be 80% was normal." Read article here...

Silver Default in Progress

Not enough silver available at COMEX to cover shorts? Listen for yourself.

For background read this. Could this be the default that ends the silver manipulation?

What are You Going to Do When War with Iran Starts?

Ok, we've been talking about War with Iran since last summer and it hasn't happened...yet. Now here's an article that states this war will start on August 22, 2006. The article is from Pravda, the Russian newspaper. Who knows if it is correct or not? Certainly not I, but from all the chatter it seems that we are being led to believe that such a war is inevitable.

So my question is this: What are you going to do when this war starts?

After sitting on our hands while two elections have been stolen, while unknown forces demolished 3 building on 9/11, while the invasion of Iraq has been justified with lies, while illegal wiretaps have been implemented, while torture has been conducted in our name, while the “Unitary President” has grabbed unprecedented power, while our civil liberties have been trampled, while on and on and on ….

What will you do?

It starts in the streets

I suggest that when the beginning of this third middle-eastern war is announced, we take to the streets. We have to shut this insanity down, and the only means available to us will be street action. Signs, marches, protests, disruption of all kinds will be necessary to stop the madness.

Our militarized police will certainly react, but we must be prepared to continue in the face of beatings and arrests. If martial law is the result, so much the better. Let’s get this out in the open. We cannot sit idly by while our insane “leaders” promulgate World War III

After all, WE ARE THE PEOPLE mentioned in our Constitution. We have the right, but do we have the will?

Yes. Yes we do.

“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government” US Declaration of Independence.

Listen Up!

If you have any "funny money" ($US) sitting around in cash or savings accounts, now is the time to buy Silver Eagles. I know its already more than doubled, but when it hits $100/oz don't say I didn't warn you. (Today you can expect to pay about $14.95 each.)

Listen or read, but get going now!

Or, do nothing, and watch as your dollar (which has already lost 80% of its value since 1971) turns into legal tinder.

Listen to the Smirking Chimp

"I'm going to tell you something which is straight-up heresy: America is not under attack by terrorists. There is no WAR on terror because, except for one day five years ago, al Qaeda has pretty much left us alone.

That's because Osama got what he wanted. There's no mystery about what Al Qaeda was after. Like everyone from the Girl Scouts to Bono, Osama put his wish on his web site. He had a single demand: "Crusaders out of the land of the two Holy Places." To translate: get US troops out of Saudi Arabia.

And George Bush gave it to him. On April 29, 2003, two days before landing on the aircraft carrier Lincoln, our self-described "War President" quietly put out a notice that he was withdrawing our troops from Saudi soil. In other words, our cowering cowboy gave in whimpering to Osama's demand.

The press took no note. They were all wiggie over Bush's waddling around the carrier deck in a disco-aged jump suit announcing, "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED." But it wasn't America's mission that was accomplished, it was Osama's." (continue reading)