James Nagy – 11/26/06

This page was last updated on November 27, 2006.

Stay a different course; James Nagy; Beaver County Times; November 26, 2006.

You probably recall most of Mr. Nagy’s letters are simply vehicles to bash Republicans in general and President Bush in particular.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“The best defense against terrorism is good police work.”

[RWC] Hmm, that was the primary/sole Clinton administration strategy and where did that get us? Oh yeah, 9/11, the attacks on the USS Cole and two U.S. embassies in Africa, et cetera.

Don’t get me wrong. Good police work is a key to fighting terrorism successfully, but it’s not the only key.

“The most successful clashes with terrorists are waged by detectives, uncovering relevant dots. They then quickly and astutely connect them to foil as many disasters as possible. What can an army operating in a foreign tongue accomplish that a highly skilled local police department could not?”

[RWC] You may recall Mr. Nagy wrote a letter in April objecting to the NSA terrorist surveillance program, a program whose objective is “uncovering relevant dots.” Did Mr. Nagy have a change of heart, or did he simply not connect the dots himself? I suspect the apparent inconsistency is just another example of what happens when you allow politics to dictate your positions.

“What country in the whole wide world, regardless of their citizen’s skin tones or creeds, would not like to be free of religious and cultural parasites? The correct plan to win the war on terrorism and forge an empire of morality is to assemble a corruption-free dragnet from existing and U.S.-trained police departments around the world.”

[RWC] “[E]mpire of morality?” Who wants an empire of any kind? Mr. Nagy appears to believe “police departments around the world” aren’t competent unless they are “U.S.-trained.”

“If the US wants to become a world leader again, let us be the change agent for coordinated police efforts and critical law unification. Wouldn’t this be a course more worth our staying?”

[RWC] Mr. Nagy likely doesn’t want us to know this, but the U.S. is doing everything Mr. Nagy asserts we should be doing with respect to police work. Note, I assume Mr. Nagy includes intelligence organizations (CIA, DIA, MI5, MI6, et cetera) in the term “police.”

For example, police cooperation led by the U.S. uncovered the A.Q. Khan nuclear proliferation network. The capture of terrorists in Canada, Pakistan, England, and elsewhere have been the result of international police cooperation.

You probably noted Mr. Nagy didn’t tell us how “good police work” helps address countries that actively or passively support terrorism and/or provide safe haven to terrorists.