The new generation of terrorists

By Libby

Of all the Orwellian labels the Bush administration has slapped on its programs, Homeland Security is most egregiously misleading, perhaps best evidenced by the rise of secret domestic surveillance.

FBI Assistant Director John Miller said the 2,176 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act search warrants approved last year, compared with only 1,754 granted in 2005, mostly targeted plotters inside America.

...Miller said the warrants, issued by a secret federal court in Washington, are usually not a "way to a prosecution," but are "an intelligence tool."

In other words, they have no idea how to stop terrorists inside the US and they're on a giant fishing expedition, casting the widest net possible. Judging from the paucity of prosecutions, they aren't catching much worth keeping, while the increased danger becomes more apparent every day.

...Al Qaeda is "on a bell curve and they're getting more effective" at planning new strikes while pushing propaganda to inspire others to "take that ball and run with it."

"They're counting on both happening at once," Miller said. "They're better at this than they were before and they're thinking about it differently."

Too bad our own leaders can't demonstrate the same agility in thinking. Could it be any clearer that the administration's tactics in the so-called war on terror are making the problem worse? Forget about the terrorists that are allegedly "going to follow us home" from Iraq. The simple fact the FBI is finding so many potential targets would suggest to an objective observer that Bush's policies are not keeping us safer but are rather inspiring new recruits inside the country.

The only real mystery here is how the heck the Republicans and their wayward president managed to sell themselves as being the best guardians of national security.

[thanks to The Moderate Voice for the link]