Post-Gazette Editorial – 8/13/06

This page was last updated on August 13, 2006.

What we know / A deadly airline plot and failed Bush policies; Editorial; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; August 13, 2006.

This editorial was completely predictable.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“There is much that we don’t know about the plot uncovered last week to blow up 10 airliners over the Atlantic, flying between Great Britain and the United States.”

[RWC] Actually, reports indicate the plot was uncovered in late 2005 and the conspirators were under investigation since then in an attempt to make sure the authorities could make a case in court and to make sure we identified as many of the participants as possible.

“We don’t know the hour it would have happened.

“We don’t know what the human toll would have been.

“We don’t know the economic fallout that would have followed, not just for the airlines but for other businesses shaken by a security catastrophe.

“We don’t know the full reach of the terrorist tentacles and where they lead from the suspects in custody.

“These and other unknowns will become fleshed out in the weeks ahead as investigators piece together the facts and clues from a dastardly plan that could have rivaled, if not surpassed, the devastation of 9/11 five years ago.

“Till then, however, there are some things we do know.

“We know that the war in Iraq is not a ‘war on terror.’

“We know that the loss of 2,600 good Americans, the injuries of 19,000 others and the wartime expense of $320 billion have been a tragic waste.

“We know that because of the cost of Iraq, measures that might truly enhance homeland security, like technology that would spot sinister liquids at airport checkpoints, are hardly affordable.”

[RWC] The editorial conveniently omitted the fact that the liquids reported to be used in this plot were harmless by themselves and were readily available at shops within the secure areas of most airports. Think of what happens when you mix some household cleaning agents. They are safe by themselves, but generate deadly chlorine gas when combined.

In this case, the terrorists were going to “assemble” their bombs onboard the aircraft by combining the otherwise harmless liquids. In this scenario, there’s nearly an endless list of “sinister liquids.”

“We know that while the president has cut taxes for the rich, at a time when he says all Americans must do their part, U.S. borders are porous, cargo ships are vulnerable and sophisticated identity scanners remain a fantasy.”

[RWC] Not the “tax cuts for the rich” talking point again! Please go here to read about this myth. Have you noticed how everything would always be right for the world if only we’d tax “the rich” more?

“U.S. borders are porous?” While I agree, it takes guts for the PG to make the assertion. After all, PG editorials routinely lobby against “militarizing the immigration problem” and local/commonwealth statutes to reduce the problem.

“Yes, there is much that we don’t know. What we do know, based on the foiled plot against U.S.-bound aircraft, is that five years of policies by George W. Bush and the Republicans who control Congress have made the country no more secure and its people no more safe. It is time for a change.”

[RWC] How do you get from a successful international effort to disrupt and possibly thwart a huge terrorist attack to “five years of policies by George W. Bush and the Republicans who control Congress have made the country no more secure and its people no more safe?”

Does anyone believe the cooperation we saw among Italy, Pakistan, the U.K., and the U.S. to disrupt this plan would have happened 5+ years ago? And what of the plots uncovered and the arrest made within the U.S.?

The bottom line is, the PG knows this operation illustrated significant progress in the war on terror but felt it had to take a shot at portraying the effort as the opposite.

I do have to give the PG credit for one thing, though. The editorial didn’t express concern that the suspects’ civil rights may have been infringed upon. Perhaps that will come in a future editorial.