"The American people would be surprised by the depth of the threat, but also reassured to see the assets that have been deployed around the world," Holder said, adding that the United States interacts closely with its foreign partners.
Some Americans may be surprised at the amount of threats posed by terrorist groups, but not all of us. Some people chose to respond to the 9/11 attacks by burying their head in the sand, believing it was an isolated incident -- like some sort of fluke of nature. They also viewed the lack of additional attacks as meaning that there weren't any attempts.
Nothing could be further from reality.
The reality is that there are groups within the larger banner of al Qaeda and outside of its central planning approach who want nothing more than to carry out another 9/11 attack (or something much, much worse).
"Guantanamo is a place that has served as a recruiting tool for those who want to do us harm," he said.
Holder declined to say how many detainees could face trial in the United States, but said U.S. attorney offices around the country have been reviewing the cases for possible prosecution in those districts.
The Democrats continue to treat terrorism as a criminal action rather than as an act of war. "Facing trial" is for criminal actions. Detaining unlawful combatants is not a criminal justice action. Holding these people (or deciding to put them before a firing squad) is a military matter.
Suggesting that Guantanamo serves as a recruitment vehicle for terrorists is both a strawman and a distraction. Everything we do, from being prosperous to checking passports on inbound passengers could be viewed as a "recruiting tool." Easter egg rolls on the White House lawn could be seen as a recruiting tool as it demonstrates an association with Christianity. The point being, that everything we do as a people, including everything we do to combat terrorism can be used by propagandists to encourage the weak minded to become radicalized.
"The possibility exists that there could be people who are held in a preventative way under the laws of war," he said. "If that happens, we'd only do so by creating a system that had due process.
"I think that by closing Guantanamo, by prosecuting people, be it in Article III courts, or in military commissions, we will make the American people safer than they are now," Holder continued.
In the above, Holder is talking out of both sides of his mouth. If the military commissions are successful at prosecuting illegal combatants, the result will be the firing squad. How, exactly, would that event appease terrorists? Appeasing the terrorists would require that the men in detention are found not to be illegal combatants and released. That would prove that our military are bumbling idiots for picking up the wrong people (a characterization much favored by many on the Left) or they're dangerous terrorists who will be released on some sort of technicality. Neither scenario is good for our side.
The fate of an unlawful combatant is death. There is no other outcome. They aren't given life sentences, as one might receive for murder, or put in some sort of work/release program. Illegal combatants are shot or hanged. Delaying that outcome with detention, as long as the detainees are useful to us, is the best way to protect us.
We're at war, even if the Left continues to try to treat this as a criminal problem, doing anything necessary to avoid a military entanglement. Criminals don't fly suicide missions with the purpose of terrorizing their enemies into submission. Military enemies do that, and it appears that terrorism is working on those on the Left. Submission is their middle name.
None of this is surprising to some of us. The Left has been spewing the criminal justice angle of this matter since the beginning. The Left knows they can't win elections because of their track record on handling military matters. Republicans are perceived (rightly) as being the best people to have in charge in war time, so the Left worked really hard to distract the public from acknowledging that there is a war on! The media presented the battles as a lost cause and a political battle, not a literal one. They've campaigned that the Bush response was overreach... and now they're trying to tell us that terrorists really are something serious, and something to worry about... and how hard they work everyday to keep us safe.
He noted, however, that the Bush administration "left us an infrastructure that I think is very good," and that national security officials are constantly striving to put the country in a safer position.
Some of us know that, too.
The Bush Administration kept us safe, but they didn't find it necessary to whine about it or constantly toot their own horn for performing their primary directive, doing their job. Perhaps that was Bush's failing -- he gave the American people too much credit -- perhaps the American people do need to be constantly reminded that there is a war going on, and there really are people out to get us.
Americans are asking: How will we fight and win this war? We will direct every resource at our command -- every means of diplomacy, every tool of intelligence, every instrument of law enforcement, every financial influence, and every necessary weapon of war -- to the disruption and to the defeat of the global terror network.
This war will not be like the war against Iraq a decade ago, with a decisive liberation of territory and a swift conclusion. It will not look like the air war above Kosovo two years ago, where no ground troops were used and not a single American was lost in combat.
Our response involves far more than instant retaliation and isolated strikes. Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen. It may include dramatic strikes, visible on TV, and covert operations, secret even in success.- George W. Bush, Address to the Nation, Washington, DC, September 20, 2001
Some people are surprised that terrorism continues to be a threat. Some aren't. Some people forget what was said and promised. Some of us remember.
We will not waiver, we will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail.
H/t Drudge.
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