Weekly Terrorism Spotlight

Volume 1, Issue 1 (March 17)

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Bush follows up on new al-Qaeda threat

After a U.S. General’s statement, President George Bush follows up on new al-Qaeda threat of attack in the U.S.

Soon after USAF General Gene Ranuart’s briefing on new al Qaeda attack plans targeting the U.S., President George Bush warned against letting the nation’s guard down.

Bush’s comments were aimed at several fights his administration is facing in Congress to keep counter-terrorism tools in place so the next effort of attack in the U.S. is not successful.

“If an organization like [al-Qaeda] is to maintain credibility and continue to grow more of its extremists, it has to show tangible results,” Gen. Renuart, commender of U.S. domestic defense, said.

“I think there may be a certain sense of urgency among [al-Qaeda leaders] to have an effect, so it would tell me that they’re trying harder.”

Bush said it was not the choice of Islamist terrorism leaders, nor an accident of chance, that has kept attacks from happening in the U.S.

“This is not for a lack of effort on the part of the enemy,” Bush said. “Al-Qaeda remains determined to attack America again.”

Bush added a defense authorization bill by Congress neglected vital tools for combating the danger – in particular, for intelligence officials to employ interrogation tactics to extract information from terrorists themselves when captured.

“The best source of information about terrorist attacks is the terrorists themselves,” Bush said, adding the defense authorization forces counter-terror officials to return to published interview methods al-Qaeda has specifically trained to resist.

Bush vetoed the defense authorization bill, and Congress fell short of an override this week.

White House leaders are also pushing for Congress to pass counter-terrorist wiretapping authorization that includes safeguards for cooperating telecommunications companies.

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said “certain” Congress leaders placed roadblocks in the way of bipartisan majority support for authorizing the counter-terror tools.

Democratic leaders let a critical legal authorization for wiretapping foreign conversations lapse last month, and have not allowed the authorization bill up for a vote in the House.

“House Democratic leaders are subverting the will of a bipartisan majority of House members,” Perino said. “After weeks of inaction, the House appears to be taking a step backward.”

Perino added basic authorizations to conduct foreign surveillance at all, “as inadequate as they are,” are set to lapse in less than two years.

“Our intelligence professionals cannot do their jobs effectively if the tools they use are continuously expiring,” Perino said.

Bush said effective counter-terror work thwarted numerous attacks, including a plot to blow up a U.S. Marine camp in Djibouti and a planned attack on a U.S. consulate in Karachi, Pakistan.

Also stopped were hijacking conspiracies to fly a planes into the Library Tower in Los Angeles and into several London targets in England.

The authorizations “help us understand al-Qaeda’s structure, financing, communications and logistics,” Bush said.

“Were it not for this…our intelligence community believes that al-Qaeda and its allies would have succeeded in launching another attack against the American homeland.”

Renuart said while direct threats are not part of his warning, prudence necessitates an educated assumption of a threat – specifically against the nation’s electoral process this year.

“We need only look at Spain and see they’re certainly willing to try to do something that is significant that could affect an election process,” Renuart said.

Bush backed up Renuart’s speculation on possible attacks, reiterating his position that “the danger to our country has not passed.

“The enemy remains active, deadly in its intent – and in the face of this danger, the United States must never let town its guard,” he added.

White House efforts to reach an acceptable defense authorization bill and for a vote on the new wiretap bill are ongoing.