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#1154825 - 03/31/09 07:08 PM Does anyone even care about this anymore?
kms Offline
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God Bless America
Taliban Leader's Washington Threat Is Credible, Analysts SayTuesday, March 31, 2009  By Joshua Rhett Miller  
Baitullah MehsudThe United States has put a $5 million bounty on his head, and he says militants under his control are planning a terrorist attack in Washington that "will amaze everyone in the world.
"And he isn't Usama bin Laden.Baitullah Mehsud, commander of the Taliban in Pakistan, told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday that his group was responsible for Monday's attack on a police academy in his country that killed seven police officers and injured more than 90 others.He also said, chillingly:"Soon we will launch an attack in Washington that will amaze everyone in the world."In an interview with local Dewa Radio, which was obtained by The Associated Press, Mehsud identified the White House as one of the targets.

Terrorism experts call Mehsud a "rising young star" who is linked both to the December 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and the bombing last September that killed 54 people in the Marriott hotel in Islamabad. They say his threat to carry out an attack in Washington is credible."It should be taken seriously because [Mehsud] has ordered the deaths of many Pakistanis and Afghans and has a close alliance with Al Qaeda," said James Phillips, a terrorism expert and senior research fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Heritage Foundation."It's not too much of a stretch to think he might be involved in an attack on the U.S. if he's able to get his followers inside the United States. He's a militant extremist whose threats cannot be ignored."Mehsud, 35, is the senior leader of Tehrik-e-Taliban, or the Taliban Movement of Pakistan, and is a key Al Qaeda facilitator in the tribal areas of South Waziristan in Pakistan, according to the U.S. State Department.

A $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction was announced just last week."He has conducted cross-border attacks against U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and poses a clear threat to American persons and interests in the region," the State Department wrote in a March 25 release.Phillips said Mehsud is less of a direct threat to the U.S. than bin Laden in an ideological sense, but his influence in Pakistan could allow him to tap into existing networks within Al Qaeda or among Afghan Taliban militants to achieve his goals."The U.S. government and other allied governments cannot afford to ignore this threat because [Mehsud] has acted on targets in the past," Phillips said. "Because he has a relatively secure base of operations in South Waziristan, he has been able to extend his influence throughout the border region and even into Pakistani cities."Steve Emerson, executive director of The Investigative Project on Terrorism, said that of the many terrorists who have issued "blustery threats" in recent years, Meshud is considered a "rising young star" among militants."He's a dangerous guy," Emerson told FOXNews.com.

"It just reaffirms the fact that Washington is a major target."He seems to be a pretty bloody, bold guy who is not afraid to have a marker on himself and knows how to exact publicity ... The real issue is what U.S. intelligence knows."Malou Innocent, a foreign policy analyst at the Cato Institute, said Mehsud's attacks have "significantly altered" the political dynamics in Pakistan and provide a major test for President Asif Ali Zardari. But any direct threat Mehsud poses to the United States will be through his link with Al Qaeda, she said."If he did have the reach, it would be because of Al Qaeda," she said. "This is more posturing on his behalf."Mehsud, who denies involvement in Bhutto's assassination and the Marriott Hotel bombing, is a diabetic who was reportedly called a "good Taliban" in 2007, when the Pakistani army struck a peace agreement with him that was later aborted.

Mehsud has said he's not concerned with the bounty on his head, telling The Associated Press, "I wish to die and embrace martyrdom.""That shows that he is adamantly committed to his extremist goals and is unlikely to be brought to justice by law enforcement actions," Phillips said. 'It will take a war to defeat him in South Waziristan, and I think that shows that the term War on Terrorism remains applicable there."A State Department spokeswoman, Megan Mattson, declined to comment on Mehsud's threat.
Last edited by kms; 03/31/09 07:15 PM.
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#1154826 - 03/31/09 07:09 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? kms
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are there no paragraphs, woman! eek
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#1154829 - 03/31/09 07:13 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? A_G
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well there were when i pasted it
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#1154834 - 03/31/09 07:17 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? kms
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It just made it look like such a difficult read! laugh
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#1154836 - 03/31/09 07:20 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? A_G
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Scary stuff.

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#1154841 - 03/31/09 07:25 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? QCL
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Janet Napolitano will save us as she beefs up the border with Canada.
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#1154842 - 03/31/09 07:25 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? QCL
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Comrade Clinton, the rest of the State Department, and the administration as a whole no longer use the term "War on Terror."

Kum bay Yah . . . .
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#1154845 - 03/31/09 07:28 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? QCL
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We need to have a boogeyman to continue the "War on (insert tax wasting bureaucratic SNAFU here)."

I'd miss the buildings, monuments, museums and the mall, but would wiping the bureaucracy clean and getting rid of the lobbyists and politicians really be a blessing in disguise?

Does me posting this get me "on the radar?" Amazingly, that scares me more than a potential attack.
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#1154847 - 03/31/09 07:31 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? FBH
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nope you are safe FBH
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#1154855 - 03/31/09 07:36 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? kms
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Originally Posted By: kms
nope you are safe FBH


I'll let you know the next time I try to fly...
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#1154860 - 03/31/09 07:40 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? FBH
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The war on terror is over.

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#1154867 - 03/31/09 07:43 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? straw
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under the Lone Star
just a police operation, after the fact...........
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#1154878 - 03/31/09 07:55 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? Pale Rider
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Except it's really hard to stretch that yellow crime scene tape around an entire country.

Ok folks, move along, nothing to see here.

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#1154970 - 03/31/09 08:46 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? FBH
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Originally Posted By: FBH
We need to have a boogeyman to continue the "War on (insert tax wasting bureaucratic SNAFU here)."

Preventing terror attacks is a waste of our taxes? There are certainly things done wastefully within that effort, but surely the effort is not a waste, right? You better hope they're successful - ever consider what civil liberties would remain in a post-nuclear terror attack America?

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#1154976 - 03/31/09 08:48 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? Jokerman
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Why be afraid of terrorists when our own elected leaders are going to do far worse than terrorists can?

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#1154984 - 03/31/09 08:51 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? B_F
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Somewhere in the middle
If they were to take out BO, JB and NP (and Dirty Harry as well) who is next? Hillary? Maybe this was her plan all along?
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#1154989 - 03/31/09 08:56 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? Jokerman
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Originally Posted By: Jokerman
Originally Posted By: FBH
We need to have a boogeyman to continue the "War on (insert tax wasting bureaucratic SNAFU here)."

Preventing terror attacks is a waste of our taxes? There are certainly things done wastefully within that effort, but surely the effort is not a waste, right? You better hope they're successful - ever consider what civil liberties would remain in a post-nuclear terror attack America?


Sometimes I just think it's the tail wagging the dog.

What if we legalized drugs like marijuana and cocaine, regulated it, and taxed it - would things be different? I think they would.

Same with terrorism. Maybe we should focus on our own house rather than getting involved with everyone elses...Maybe we wouldn't have to worry about terrorism.

No entangling alliances, and trade with everyone. Washington was a smart guy, we should have followed his advice.
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#1154993 - 03/31/09 09:00 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? FBH
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Yup we are just getting what we deserve. If we didn't get involved they wouldn't attack us. (sarcasm)

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#1154994 - 03/31/09 09:00 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? FBH
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We were minding our own business on 9/11. NSA was begining the start of a draw down just a week before
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#1154995 - 03/31/09 09:00 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? FBH
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exactly!

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#1154996 - 03/31/09 09:01 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? FBH
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Washington was a terrifically smart guy. But he wasn't giving us advice in the time of a global marketplace and international flights that can place you on the opposite side of the world in a matter of hours.

Maybe the world (including our part of it) would be a better place if the US was available as a trading partner, but no more. But I don't think so.

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#1155083 - 03/31/09 09:48 PM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? Jokerman
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#1155153 - 04/01/09 01:18 AM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? FBH
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Originally Posted By: FBH
Originally Posted By: Jokerman
Originally Posted By: FBH
We need to have a boogeyman to continue the "War on (insert tax wasting bureaucratic SNAFU here)."

Preventing terror attacks is a waste of our taxes? There are certainly things done wastefully within that effort, but surely the effort is not a waste, right? You better hope they're successful - ever consider what civil liberties would remain in a post-nuclear terror attack America?


Sometimes I just think it's the tail wagging the dog.

What if we legalized drugs like marijuana and cocaine, regulated it, and taxed it - would things be different? I think they would.


I think you read Ron Paul's blog on lewrockwell.com. wink

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#1155157 - 04/01/09 02:02 AM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? FBH
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Originally Posted By: FBH
Originally Posted By: Jokerman
Originally Posted By: FBH
We need to have a boogeyman to continue the "War on (insert tax wasting bureaucratic SNAFU here)."

Preventing terror attacks is a waste of our taxes? There are certainly things done wastefully within that effort, but surely the effort is not a waste, right? You better hope they're successful - ever consider what civil liberties would remain in a post-nuclear terror attack America?


Sometimes I just think it's the tail wagging the dog.

What if we legalized drugs like marijuana and cocaine, regulated it, and taxed it - would things be different? I think they would.


THe only thing that would be different is that people would be addicted to drugs supporting the country with taxes. It would not be a good thing, no matter how much the Ron's of the world would like it to be.

As far as terrorism, we can either wait for them to take the first move, or we can take the fight to them. At least fighting them, we get results. By being passive, all we do is wait for them to attack us.

The prevent defense doesn't work.

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#1155186 - 04/01/09 10:26 AM Re: Does anyone even care about this anymore? B_F
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