Well Of Course They Knew

Is it really supposed to be shocking that Stratfor allegedly reported that the ISI allegedly knew of UBL's arrangement in Abbotabad?   Who doesn't think that elements in official Pakistan had set up the bearded one in a nice safe house (even importing his wives and kids)?  Yeah, a lot of 'allegeds' in the above but just from a commoner perspective the building of the complex alone should have been enough to spark rumors and inquiries in a garrison town.

Wildly assuming the emails are true, a slightly touchy question arises... if the ISI knew, when did they know?  Clearly if they set up binny they knew from the beginning, meaning they might have known UBL's whereabouts as early as when he left Tora Bora.  Or maybe before.     

But the bigger question is a lot touchier...when did the US or western nations first know?  Short of "they didn't know for sure until the raid" (gutsy call, standard line), any other answer could be a bit problematic--and not just for the present president.  Reports are now saying the USG has decided to go after Assange, for what it's worth.  Not that he doesn't deserve it--he does--but when he was leaking Bush-era secrets the intensity didn't seem to be there.

Why Bother Voting then..

Interesting.  In the past week we've seen the following in regards to the upcoming election..

Obama:

"My presidency is not over," Obama told Univision's Eddie “Piolin” Sotelo. "I’ve got another five years coming up. We’re going to get this done."

Hillary Clinton:

"He will be re-elected president," Clinton said. "I think that will be a very clear signal to the entire world as to what our values are and what our president believes." Clinton responded to a question from the audience about the pro-Israel stance from most political candidates of both parties.

And Chris Christie:

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was very blunt in his assessment of the Republican presidential nominating contest: "Rick Santorum will not be the nominee." On CBS News' "Face the Nation,"

Everyone seems pretty sure, don't they?   Meanwhile here's what Indy 500 pole sitter Danica Patrick said when asked about the Catholic contraception question:

“I leave it up to the government to make good decisions for Americans,” Patrick, a Roman Catholic, told The Daily Caller Tuesday when asked about the controversy.

Yeah, a shameless attempt to mention her today while pointing out that not everyone wants to take a stand, well, on politics at least.  Oh well, Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines....

19 Years Ago Today..

For all intents and purposes the war on terrorism (or whatever it's called) began on this day in 1993.  Of the rag-tag group who constructed and transported the massive bomb (laced with cyanide) to the underground parking garage of the World Trade Center, only one was said to be a real player.  His arrival occurred in late 1992 at JFK with entrance based on an Iraqi passport. As reported by Laurie Mylroie in "The War Against America", the passport signature page ironically had a familiar date...

Think what you will about Mylroie (and many conservatives don't buy what she's selling) but that date is certainly a weird coincidence.  Or was it?  A symbolic speech was given on September 11, 1990--the same day--announcing that Saddam's aggression towards Kuwait and beyond "would not stand" and contemplating a "new world order" where countries would live in peace free of terrorism, etc.  And irony of ironies, today is the day Kuwait celebrates its freedom from Iraq after we liberated them in the Gulf War that followed the speech.   We know terrorists love anniversaries.  The passport was Iraqi.    

Weird wild stuff.  By the way, Iraqi complicity is not the only nefarious explanation aside from mere chance but since a public investigation never occurred there weren't many in-depth stories in the press, leaving only weak conspiracy theories (feel free to send the tinfoil). Looking back, only two days after the attack the Branch Davidian Waco standoff began and lingered for 50 days, taking over most of the subsequent headlines. 

Anyway, after the bombing a law enforcement approach was taken; Yousef was later captured in Pakistan (our great ally) in 1995 and voluntarily gave up some information about his goals on the flight back to America.  It's anyone's guess as to whether he was ever aggressively interrogated by the government as to his knowledge of the entire AQ network or any state sponsors.  The presiding judge in his case wasn't even sure of his actual identity at the end of his trial.  In other words, the same kind of confusion, obfuscation and mystery still present in our understanding of terrorism now.  And it all began 19 years ago today.

Side Tracks

Shakedown Comes to Memphis

Well, here's a gob-smacker..

Rev. Jesse Jackson said he will launch a campaign aimed at boosting minority jobs inside major companies in Memphis and the Mid-South. Jackson, a prominent civil rights activist from Chicago, revealed the campaign to civic leaders on Thursday during a meeting in Memphis City Hall.

Get that? He got face time with the mayor on this new plan to 'boost minority jobs.  How will he do it'?

The campaign centers on a new plan to spur diversity and look at hiring, spending and boardroom patterns of 50 public companies in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Rainbow will spend about $1,000 in total for shares of stock of companies based in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. Shareholders are usually provided with basic financial information about the company and entitled to attend annual shareholder meetings. Thirteen public companies are based in metropolitan Memphis.

Bold to highlight the pittance they will be 'investing' for access. Starting to get the picture now?  Jackson thinks if he becomes a stockholder he'll be privy to all the deep dark racist secrets, which he can then use to shakedown the companies to do whatever he tells them to do.

But how much access can he get for one share?  Someone holding one share cannot reasonably demand to see the inner-workings of a company.  But someone with the right organization and visibility could threaten board members with a rent-a-mob or an Occupy camp (filmed by the local TV) if their demands aren't met, while attending the stockholders meeting.  Since most companies are spineless this tactic may actually work.

OK agreed, nothing shocking here, it's Jesse Jackson.  Actually THIS is the most egregious part of the story:

Memphis leaders generally lauded the diversity effort for its potential to create jobs. About 40 percent of the households in metropolitan Memphis are considered poor or in poverty.

No wonder 40 percent are in poverty with that kind of clownish leadership.  It's tempting to say that only in Memphis would leaders think that harassing companies 'creates jobs'--at least net new jobs (maybe they mean someone else's existing job).  But when added to the national mosaic being painted by Democrats it makes perfect sense.  Just in the past few days we've been told that some people aren't paying their fair share for the privilege of being Americans.  So the Crackers gotta pay.

Will the NY Times..

....give us 30 days of front page coverage of the Afghan Koran-burning fubar?   As of this writing there were no stories jumping right off that front page.  Yet is it that much different than Abu Graihb?  Both were small contingents of clueless or thoughtless individuals doing something they should have known would look bad if discovered (and hurt our overall efforts).  And so far as anyone can tell neither were part of some kind of grand presidential policy.  Obama apologized--what else could he do?   Bush did likewise. 

Clearly, Abu Graihb irrevocably harmed our efforts in Iraq; this will make it hard to remain in Afghanistan.  Many folks there are liable to never trust another word we say--and not just the crazies.  And of course a bigger gift the Taliban could have never expected.  But the damage is potentially not just in Afghanistan, it's worldwide.  Indeed this thing could really get away from us, apologies or not, if we can't find a way to tamp it down.

Or would leaving make it go away?   There are ongoing negotiations, reportedly.

Granny Get Your Gun?

After several Democrats suggested that right wing 'hate radio' and other conservatives might have contributed to the shooting of Gabby Giffords, president Obama felt the need to give a healing national speech on our widening divisions. He was looking at you, TEA Party.

Since then we've seen very little activity from the "baggers" however we have seen all kinds of violence around Occupy Wall St demonstration camp outs.

And today there were two stories on Drudge of perhaps a seminal nature; one talking about threatening letters sent to members of Congress. These letters evidently came from a group calling itself "MIB" (Men in Black?) and contained the following warning:

Television comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert also received letters stating that similar powder-filled mailings would be sent to 100 senators and that 10 percent of them would contain "lethal pathogens," CBS News has reported.

Contacting Stewart and Colbert to announce threats? Sounds rather Occupy-ish. Amateurish yes, but so are lone-wolf jihadists. Then this, a letter to the USA Today:

Your piece accuses the protesters of sitting around and doing nothing. So maybe they should take up their Second Amendment-sanctioned guns and storm Wall Street and our nation's capitals. If our country doesn't change, it could very well come to that one day. Rich Latta; Austin

This guy gave his name so it's less threatening, but it's the thought that counts.  This on top of various reports suggesting the reincarnation of OWS could be something to behold.  No wonder Washington DC officials are taking a 'fortress mentality' towards our nation's capitol.  Janet Napolitano are you getting this?  Or is it gonna take another speech, for crying out loud?