So what's Bush's lesson taken from the London bombings?

[Inland]

Which of these Bushian anti-terror policies will be instituted in response to the evidence that the home front is still vulnerable?

a) invade Syria, Iran or a country yet to be named;

b) torture the Gitmo prisoners at twice the present rate;

c) get more homeland security money to Wyoming and Idaho and renege on more promises for money to New York;

d) end the estate tax;

e) drill for oil in the Alaska wildlife refuge;

f) ban flag burning;

g) have a final victory over the implacable enemy of domestic political opposition.

Blair is looking for evidence and going to roll up the organization that actually DID it, Bush finds that boring, tedious, hard work and frankly, if it helped politically Clinton would have gotten an ounce of credit for it. You don't win midterms by arresting people. You don't get a patriotic jingo reesponse from actually stopping terror. You get it from suffering an attack and then lashing out in anger with a bewildered and frightened populace guided by a cowed and complicit media.

[Justice]

1. I would add private accounts, but otherwise, I think you have his

options covered.

[annabanana]

2. Imagine how much safer we'd be now

If we had followed the incursion into Afganistan with stellar policework and the cooperation of dedicated allies.

(nominated)

[Inland]

3. It had been imagined as Bush was warned not to invade Iraq.

Everything was foreseen. Bush just didn't take the advice.

If we had stuck to the issue of Alqaeda and terrorism, we could have turned Afghanistan into the stable, prosperous democracy the Neocons say they want in the ME.

We'd have the backing of the entire world.

We'd have 1800 Americans still alive.

And we'd be chasing down terror networks at home and abroad with the cooperateion of the vast majority of people in muslim and non muslim areas alike.

[Peace Patriot]

4. When you think of how many efforts to stop terrorism that the Bush regime

has bungled, blown, outed or foiled--directly connected to action by Bush toadies or occurring on the Bush regime's watch with causality unclear--and then when you think also about how convenient it is to have a terrorist bombing shoving Plamegate off the front pages, you have to wonder about London 7/7.

Here's a short list of Bush regime's bungling and foiling terrorist investigations:

Forced John O'Neil (investigating Saudi/OBL $$) out of the FBI, prior to 9/11.

Forced out Richard Clarke who was warning about OBL.

Ignored numerous warnings of 9/11 from numerous sources.

Refused to permit FBI agent Coleen Rowley to open the computer of a suspected airplane terrorist just prior to 9/11.

Failed to take any defensive measures to protect the Pentagon and the Capitol, with nearly an hour's notice on 9/11--inexplicable Air Force standdown.

Permitted OBL relatives to leave the country shortly after 9/11 without questioning them; facilitated their exit.

Invaded Afghanistan, killing numerous innocent people; failed to catch the purported 9/11 perps; lost interest in Afghanistan...

Invaded Iraq, slaughtered over 100,000 innocents, and multiplied "terrorists" by the many thousands, and prompted their alliance with furious Iraqi patriots and rebels. Falsely accused Iraq of possessing WMDs, as the excuse to invade; also falsely accused Iraq of complicity in 9/11.

Outed CIA WMD specialist Valerie Plame and her entire WMD covert network--a 20+ year project to provide the US with accurate info on weapons proliferation--during a period when Bush regime was hunting for WMDs in Iraq (post-invasion). Many in her network probably dead as a result; put Plame's life at risk. Purported reason: to punish her husband Joseph Wilson for whistleblowing on Bush false claim about Iraq nukes.

In the same time frame as Plame (July 2003, while the post-invasion "hunt" for WMDs in Iraq proceeded --cheered on by NYT Judith Miller), Brit chief weapons inspector for Iraq, David Kelly, hounded by gov't, grilled by intel service, and outed to the press, for covert whistleblowing to the BBC re: Bush/Blair lies about Iraq WMDs, then soon found dead under highly suspicious circumstances (officially whitewashed as a "suicide"). Kelly's last email, to Judith Miller (!), warned of "dark actors playing games."

Outed the investigation of Pakistan's nuke proliferation (Kahn)--blew the investigation.

Blew a recent Italian terrorist investigation by untimely and illegal arrests.

Inspired nuke programs in Iran and No. Korea with warmongering language and threats.

-----------

I've just begun adding up these outed and blown investigations and disabled WMD weapons experts, and the whole picture of Bush regime behavior on this matter, which has begun to look less like incompetence and stupidity, and more like deliberate facilitation of terrorism. (And this has a history, or course--we know the Bush gang supported and armed OBL to begin with, supported and armed Saddam Hussein, and were involved in a number of outlaw wars, the most notorious being the "contra" war in Nicaragua.)

Here's a fascinating thread on possible connection of Plamegate to Cheney/Halliburton trade in nuke components (did Bush Cartel disable Plame and her network to remove CIA eyes and ears around the world on WMD activity, in order to make billions in arms trade profits?)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2178477#2180220

And here's one on Plame/Miller/Kelly:

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/7/3/17138/30618

The coincidence in time of Plame outing and Kelly death seems pertinent. Summer 2003. Post-invasion. There is nothing Bush/Blair needed more that summer than a find of WMDs in Iraq. None found (not for lack of effort by Judith Miller, who went hopping around with the troops in Iraq looking for WMDs, leading them here and there, and yelling at them for not looking hard enough--to the annoyance of local commanders). Why didn't they plant WMDs in Iraq? It's hard to imagine they didn't have some plot to do so. Were Plame's outing and Kelly's death connected to foiling such a plot? That's my guess. (--although the Cheney arms dealing theory--$$$$$$$$$$--should not be discounted).

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The answer to the stink in Washington DC is state/local election reform. We must restore our right to vote! We must throw Diebold, ES&S and brethren out of the election business NOW! The only place where we can get that done is in state/local jurisdictions, where the authority over election systems still resides, and where ordinary people still have some say. See the DU Forum "2004 Election Results and Discussion" for information and action ideas:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=203

[Peace Patriot]

5. I meant the outing of Naeem Noor Kahn, a Brit covert agent to Al Q:

Here's a thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4040920

Not A.Q. Kahn, "father" of Pakistan's nuke program. That's another story.

[Inland]

7. I had heard of this.....

Bush admin actively prevents other countries from rolling up their networks.

[sojourner]

6. well...good luck!

"credible" sources and analysts are required before many folks here will do a bloody thing. and since the whole election reform thing has arisen from "conspiracy theorists" we're fucked IMO.

what you've written jibes with my take on things...at some point you realize that the "blunders" of BushCo do more to benefit them than any responsible action could have done (never mind how much they have hurt the US and the world)...and then you begin to wonder how much they were actually blunders. Especially since he truly has a cabal going up there in the WH. PNAC members, signatories and authors, all. That or folks from corporate oil.