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Planes Into Buildings -- Not So Brilliant. Perniciously Turning Us Against Ourselves Is More So.Reader comment on item: [The Islamist-Leftist] Allied Menace Submitted by Sofa Sogood (United States), Jul 4, 2008 at 00:22 I agree that we underestimate our enemy at our peril -- but, not in the way you look at it -- even if it were possible (which it's not) to take 9-11 on its face as an "act," excluding judgment of the immorality or pure evil of it, as Norman Mailer supposedly did. Was 9-11 so Brilliant? I don't think so. Aside from the fact that we here in the US so very much love our freedoms, especially freedoms of movement, were loathe to impede them by policing-type interference, and our doors were wide open, essentially our Intelligence systems failed. They actually had the names of many of the terrorists on their lists, but failed to follow up. What was so Brilliant (in a country like ours, with slack inspection and underdeveloped suspicions) about getting on to a few planes at different locations with box cutters to be used against unsuspecting passengers and stewards -- and then telling them they were going to be hijacked all the while intending to do the suicide thing? Not so Brilliant. Terrorism doesn't take Brilliance in a democratic country. Don't forget Flight 93. Those incredibly brave souls were told by phone it was a suicide mission. Once they understood that, they put a stop to it knowing they were going to die one way or another. Their action and plan could be considered "Brilliant." But it does take Brilliance, courage, and persistence to detect, expose, protect against, and prosecute Terrorism. For instance, check out the works (see their websites) of Steven Emerson, Doug Farah, and Andrew C. McCarthy ("Willful Blindness"). There's Brilliance. And while attempting to do their jobs they have to fight off our own government PC, including the President, factions of the FBI, factions of Congress, the PC Media and the various Leftists. It was our Intelligence officials and systems that were particularly Un-Brilliant to not have surmised that using hijacked planes would have been one of the most obvious ways suicide jihadis would attack. This is not hindsight. There ought to have been profiles of the several most obvious ways that attacks might come at us, the most likely targets, and appropriate precautions taken. There were even warnings issued that something big was afoot that summer. Instead we had a Condoleeza Rice as our National Security Adviser who ignored the specific warnings, and the likes of Michael Scheuer in the Bin Laden Unit who believe that Osama had good reason to attack us. If our CIA has twisted opinions like that, how can they be sincere in protecting us? What's more Brilliant than hijacking planes is the way the Islamists have studied our laws and most cherished concepts and are not only using them against us, but causing us to use them against ourselves and in favor of them. So much of the way they are working is right out of Soviet Studies 101. Obviously the Radical Left with their Soviet Techniques, along with the Useful Idiots, have been of great help to the Radical Islamists. Brilliant are the works of those, who like our esteemed Daniel Pipes, through whose works, writings and websites are attempting to expose and bring these plots and plans into the public awareness, all the while fighting off attacks by PC Idiots, dedicated Leftists, and the Islamists themselves. It's very Un-Brilliant of so many of us not to see through Islamist plans, Soviet-style concept and word twisting and inversions of meaning, using our own democratic laws and courts to promote their democracy-hating "cause," and stop them dead in their tracks. Very Un-Brilliant especially when the evidence is so very clear and readily available -- in fact, right in front of our eyes. Interesting anecdote. Many years ago while living in Berlin, two young student friends, who were starry-eyed communists, had obtained some sort of scholarship to study in Moscow for a year. They were so appalled by what they experienced under the Soviets that they returned much disillusioned and totally shut up about politics thereafter. I'm sure there are many similar stories, but they are not told out of shame. Wouldn't it be great if there were a way to get Noam Chomsky, George Galloway, Harold Pinter, and the women of the Answer Coalition and Code Pink or whatever, to go to live in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan or Iran for a year or two. Or maybe forever. Brilliant would be to discover a way to get them to do it. Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments". << Previous Comment Next Comment >> Reader comments (150) on this item
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