Jeff Koopersmith explains what is likely to be the final round of terrorist fearmongering from the Bush Debacle.
November 19, 2008 – Washington (apj.us) – You might think that General Michael Hayden likes his job and does not want to give it up to a President Obama replacement. Yesterday, Hayden told the world that a new and unique problem has arisen. "Westerners" are flocking to northern Pakistan for the opportunity to go to Al Queda training camps.
"All the threats we have to the west have a thread that takes it back to the [Afghanistan-Pakistan] border," Hayden said.
It seems that "westerners" are a prized lot from Osama Bin Laden's point of view because they are hard to spot at airports.
That's strange? I'd say westerners might be easy to spot at Nairobi International Airport. Even at Hong Kong. It seems General Hayden forgets that westerners encompass a very mixed group of people. There are Chinese westerners, Korean westerners, even Arab westerners. There are also French westerners, and of course – American westerners. There are even half African-half Balinese westerners living in London.
I wonder about the Head of the CIA admitting that the color of one's skin makes him or her suspect?
I thought everyone was jumping up front to deny that vicious rumor.
Hayden is convinced that if there is a major strike in the United States it will bear the fingerprints of al Queda. Yet he also said at the same time that Bin Laden was too busy protecting himself to be effective. Which is it? Perhaps a Bin Laden underling – someone who looks like Tab Hunter – is recruiting all these westerners to stream into Pakistan for a little Terror Semester.
Hayden is right that too many Americans have become complacent. This is certainly true about Americans who now hide out in caves in the Alps. However, I think Americans are not complacent at all – they simply have other things on their minds – like being able to afford to have dinner.
Perhaps Chief Hayden should be looking more closely at the criminal bankers, insurers, realtors, and others that have not only caused the world to slip into a near-depression, but have the nerve, and it seems the ability – to wrench hundreds of billions in free cash from the congress, the White House, and our idiot Secretary of the Treasury.
Jeff Koopersmith is an internationally renowned political consultant, opinion research authority and policy analyst. He has lobbied for causes including the alternative fuel sector and women's health, and is an expert on the international real estate market. He lives in Philadelphia, Washington and Geneva.