David Horowitz
Sunday, July 7, 2002

The attacking gunman was an Egyptian citizen whose wife and children are in Egypt. Yet the FBI has categorically dismissed the idea that this might be a terrorist attack.

Last week, FBI director Mueller was the honored speaker at a luncheon of the American Muslim Council, whose founder is a Hamas supporter.

Mueller's message was one of tolerance toward Muslims in general and the American Muslim Council in particular, even though one of its directors is currently under investigation for funneling funds to terrorists. Is there a connection between these two images? We think so.

The FBI needs a new director and a new attitude. Its leaders need to understand that we are at war with radical Islam and that the enemy has penetrated our borders.

A second thought provoked by this event is whether Democratic Majority Leader Tom Daschle bears some responsibility for this attack. If the attack was not initiated by any terrorist organization and was indeed the work of a lone gunman desiring to advance the Islamicist cause, is it not probable that the government alert about a July Fourth attack actually inspired his actions?

And isn't it the Bush administration's fear of being demagogued again by Daschle and the Democrats that caused the warnings to be issued even though there was no evidence of a specific plan for an attack? This very possibility illustrates the dangers of partisan demagoguery by national leaders in time of war.

Let's hope Mr. Daschle thinks about this incident and has second thoughts as a result.

The lead article in the New York Times of July 5 features a leak about an alleged government plan to attack Iraq.

According to the Times' account, the allied countries specified in the plan as launching bases for the attack were not even aware of its existence until the Times story appeared. Obviously, this makes any future attack on Iraq far more difficult, which is what the leaker and the left-wing editors of the Times intended.

They prefer to have Saddam Hussein stockpile his weapons of mass destruction and fund terrorists in the Middle East without the obstruction of an American military strike. But neither the leaker nor the editors of the Times were elected to make such decisions.

Both the leak of the alleged document and its publication by the Times seem obvious violations of the Espionage Act.

We hope that the government will have the nerve and the will to prosecute the guilty if such legal action is warranted.

But whether it is or not, these acts indicate the danger to the American people due to the nation's divided heart, as well as the irresponsibility of certain community leaders and institutions during these perilous times.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Bush Administration
Homeland/Civil Defense
Saddam Hussein/Iraq
War on Terrorism

A product that might interest you:
Revealed: The Terrorists Living Among Us