Posted on 06/01/2004 9:47:14 PM PDT by Robert Lomax
Executive Summary
The nation’s response to the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001 has taken many forms, from military action to expanded security measures at airports. As important as these measures are, there is probably no more important tool for preventing future attacks on U.S. soil than the nation’s immigration system because the current terrorist threat comes almost exclusively from individuals who arrive from abroad. The purpose of this study is to examine how foreign terrorists have entered and remained in the country in an effort to identify weaknesses in the system that can then lead to meaningful reforms. Rather than just focus on 9/11, we examine terrorism on U.S. soil over the last decade to provide a more complete picture of the threat.
While no immigration system can be completely foolproof, if only some of those involved in a terrorist plot can be stopped by our immigration system, it is possible that whatever conspiracy they are part of could be uncovered. Including the 9/11 hijackers, 48 foreign-born militant Islamic terrorists have been charged, been convicted, pled guilty, or admitted to involvement in terrorism within the United States since 1993. Almost all of these individuals are now thought to be linked to Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda organization. This study focuses on militant Islamic terrorists because the threat they pose dwarfs that from any other terrorists, foreign or domestic. In addition to 9/11, some of the plots examined in the study include the murder of employees outside of CIA headquarters, the first attack on the World Trade Center, a plot to bomb the subway in Brooklyn, plots to bomb New York City landmarks, and the Millennium plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport.
Continued...in pdf format
(Excerpt) Read more at cis.org ...
I'm afraid that an awful lot of people,here,wear blinkers and ear plugs.I wish that they would at least take a look at what she said and then do some VERY hard thinking.Donna was awfully honest and candid on O'Reilly's show.I don't know why,but she was and she's no political naif.
I've heard all these arguments before. I've USED a few of them myself. I understand what you're saying, and you have a valid point.
But once again, lately I've been finding myself more and more unable to believe what I've been saying: that getting Bush re-elected will, in the long run, be better enough than electing Kerry that I'm not willing to risk the latter and stand for principle over party.
That's me. I've not yet made my final decision. I don't look forward to making it.
I've talked to many Dems....I'm near DC and they are aware of the problem we have. They are torn but a few have told me they think Bush should finish the job!
The problem is, I'm thinking that in the long term, that might be inevitable.
It sounds like I was raised just like you. A conservative republican. Both parents worked many years in the republican party at the local levels as volunteers. I, also remember how proud I was that the republicans won both houses of congress in 1992 and was wishing that my parents were alive at the time. They would have been so proud.
They also explained what a Rockefellow republican was and said to never vote for one. This is where I have my problems with Bush and his open borders policy.
I know where you are coming from as I am at that same point also.
You and THE NATIONAL REVIEW can speculate and hypothesize and play games about a nonamnesty being an amnesty until pigs sprout wings and fly to the moon,for all I care.That still leaves the fact that to NOT vote for President Bush,come Novenmebr,won't alter that one little bit!Vote fringe and you have done zero,nada,ziltch,bupkiss,NOTHING to make a difference.You have a chance TO make a difference and instead,you'll be little different from some two year old throwing a temper tantrum in an empty room.
TERRORIST ARE HERE NOW,CLOSING EVERY BOREDER,BUILDING WALLS AROUND THE LOWER 48...LARGER THAN THE FREAT WALL OF CHINA...WON'T STOP A DAMNED THING!
I lost people I knew and know the family members and friends of quite a lot of people who lost friends & family on 9/11.I'm not calling for what you are,nor imagining that not voting for President Bush is going to make things better. So,WHY are you becoming so wobbly now? How many people,that you knew and/or were related to,were murdered on 9/11?
The country known as the US of A will not end if Kerry is elected, neither will it end because of a re-election of Bush. That is campaign rhetoric, Donna Brazile is trying to scare the Dim base, like you are trying to frighten the Pub base. I know that the President will either be Kerry or Bush, no other candidate has a chance. I just refuse to be a lemming and follow the crowd. The negative campaign that has been being pushed since '96 is wearing heavily on people, and they are losing interest. I can remember a man named Limbaugh saying in 2000, that if the Republicans controlled the House, Senate and the Executive, and still they did not reduce the size and scope of govt, he would not support them further. Well they have had control for quite some time, we have a MUCH larger govt, are entangled in a war with no end, and the deficit is higher than even Democrats could make it. With all of that happening, people get on here and talk about the difference in the parties? C'mon, pull another lie out of your hat. If the Republicans controlled the houses of Congress, and Kerry was President, things would be virtually identical to today, except the deficit would be MUCH smaller, and the Pubbies would be touting their ideas for reducing the size of govt again. I will probably vote for Bush, but I cannot think of a single reason why, except for hope, and hope is not a very good reason to cast a vote on..........is it???
It's a really lonely place, huh?
So...a Kerry presidency won't be so bad? Really? As compared to what...being a Jew in Germany,when Hitler was running the show?
Kerry'll raise taxes.Kerry will appoint and nominate faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar lefty judges.Kerry will NOT fight the WoT and you'd better believe that he'll sell this country out,worse than the Clintons did.YOU WANT TERRY HEINZ KERRY AS FIRST LADY? She's worse than Hillary.
If you are finding yourself unable,for whatever reason,to see that a second term,for this president is worthwhile,do yourself a favor...get off FR.Stop listening to the radio,don't read any newspapers,stop watching T.V. and take a vacation.Then,watch the Dem convention in July.Read the papers again,listen to the radio,watch T.V.,and watch the GOP convention in August.
Why supposed Conservatives,on FR,are losing it now,NOW, is beyond my ken.
Please,please,take a vacation,get some rest,you just are NOT making any sense.
The GOP did NOT win both House in '92!
I think he was a good president. Like you said, no one's perfect, though, and his blanket amnesty was definitely a low point. I had beefs with Bush long before the amnesty, though. There was, for example, his record on spending and education. The amnesty proposal really sent me over the edge, especially since, unlike Reagan, Bush should have known from observing a past mistake that this amnesty would be a HUGE mistake.
You and THE NATIONAL REVIEW can speculate and hypothesize and play games about a nonamnesty being an amnesty until pigs sprout wings and fly to the moon,for all I care.That still leaves the fact that to NOT vote for President Bush,come Novenmebr,won't alter that one little bit!Vote fringe and you have done zero,nada,ziltch,bupkiss,NOTHING to make a difference.You have a chance TO make a difference and instead,you'll be little different from some two year old throwing a temper tantrum in an empty room.
You've made your point. And in the short run, I agree with you; Bush will be much better than Kerry. In the long run, how much of a difference will there be? Enough that it was worth it to vote for Bush rather than to vote for my favorite candidate? It might be. But the more time goes on, the more ambiguous my answer to that question becomes.
I lost people I knew and know the family members and friends of quite a lot of people who lost friends & family on 9/11.I'm not calling for what you are,nor imagining that not voting for President Bush is going to make things better. So,WHY are you becoming so wobbly now? How many people,that you knew and/or were related to,were murdered on 9/11?
I'm really sorry to hear that. Maybe you can feel something I just can't understand and never will.
I can only do the best with the knowledge I have. The knowledge I have makes me believe that Europe, Canada, and the United States continue to sell their souls like whores, and that electing Bush will not stem that in the long run. (If you want one specific example, there was an element in the Bush administration that wanted LOST slipped through the legislature. Fortunately, the pundits exposed it just in time. But that's not all I'm worried about; some of these things are beyond Bush's control.)
Thank you for saying what I wanted to say but couldn't muster up the energy to say.
I don't think he would. But there WAS someone in his administration vying for the dreaded Law of the Sea Treaty, so it's at least a remote possibility. And either way, there's every chance a president in the not-so-distant future won't have what it takes to stand up to the U.N.
The GOP majority in the Senate,is almost nonexistant.
Dems aren't the audience,that O'Reilly attracks,so her blunt observation had little if anything at all to do with rallying the Dem base.
There is abasolutely NO guarantee,that the GOP will hold the majority in both Houses,should Kerfry win.And that bovine excrement,about how Kerry won't be so bad,the GOPers will hold him in check,and whatever else you imagine would be the case,is just so much codswallop,by a poltical naif.The GOPers held Clinton in check,did they?Yeah...and I'm the Queen of England...Victoria Regina! LOL
Erm... given the number of relentlessly pro-Bush people like yourself here, I would imagine there's no better place to try to become a Bushie than FR.
FWIW, though, I have been taking a vacation from FR. I didn't read it for about a week or two after moving off campus and settling back home. My support for Bush has never wobbled more than in those few days, and this time, unlike usual, FR is not helping to stablize it.
You have reasons for supporting Bush, and I respect that. You have reasons for trying to convince others to support Bush, so keep going. Keep trying to convince me, even. The election's five months away; it's too soon to write me off as a lost cause. But here's some advice:
"Principle"? That's the excuse of cowards and the naive.Please don't use that.
This fallacious argumentum ad hominem abusive will get nowhere. The more people I'm arguing with use obviously fallacious arguments, the less I can listen to them. If you want to persuade me, this is the wrong way.
Oh ye of little faith!
Reagan did a whole LOT more "bad" things than just that blanket amnesty.President Bush isn't perfect,but he IS far and away better than Kerry.That you are now quite beyond reason and are no longer able to see that,is a shame.And being some "holy martyr" for some "principles",which are meritless,in the face of a Kerry presidency,is pathetic.
Did you LOVE eight years of Clinton? Then you'll be in hog heaven with EIGHT years of Kerry and terrorists doing GOD only knows what on American soil,the rescinding of the Bush tax cuts and added taxation on top of that,not to mention all kinds of crazy eco-terroristic EOs,higher taxes on gasoline,and all of those lovely,new faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar lefty judges.Having nightmares yet? You should be!
President Bush won't do any of that.But yeah...you're right,you have a bunch of new found PRINCIPLES,and Kerry won't really be soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo bad.:-(
Maybe it was 1994.
So let's all kill ourselves rigfht now.Okay?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.