Today's Top Stories - June 18, 2013

by John P. Kuchta Jr.
VNS Columnist

Is it embarrassing for the anti-terror folks within the federal government to have a man flying in and out of this country to terror hotbeds like Dagestan and Chechnya and not so much as have a parking ticket placed under his windshield wiper?

That’s what we’re learning about Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s personal history during the last three years and the events that lead him to be a willing operative in a conspiracy to take American lives.

The CIA added Tamerlan Tsarnaev to a “Terrorist Database” eighteen months ago, after being contacted by Russian intelligence types and long before Tsarnaev traveled to Dagestan in January 2012 for a six month stay.   So, how does a guy on a “Terrorist Database” fly out of the country and fly back in and not a hair on his head is touched?

And, J. Edgar Hoover’s descendants were doing no better!  The same Russian intelligence agency that contacted the CIA about Tamerlan Tsarnaev also contacted the FBI on not one, but two, occasions.  The FBI was first contacted by the Russians in early 2011and the second time in October 2011, shortly before Tsarnaev was scheduled to fly to Russia.

The fact that neither the FBI nor the CIA seemed ready or able to act to prevent the bombing is a given; but, what can explain the fact that the FBI in particular was seemingly in a fog about possible suspects in the aftermath of the bombings?  Think about the fact that an FBI agent had spoken to Tamerlan Tsarnaev and had a picture of him from his driver’s license; but, the FBI didn’t have any means of calling-up Tamerlan as a bombing suspect in his hometown bombings?  From that scenario, it appears that the very best way to escape FBI scrutiny is to go talk to them!

Not only did the FBI not have the mentality to link Tsarnaev to the bombings, the FBI seems to have not passed the information from Russia to the local Anti-Terror Unit of the Boston Police Department or the MA State Police for that matter. 

The left hand didn’t know what the right hand was doing and people were blown up.  Were both the CIA and the FBI directed to keep the contacts from Russia to themselves? 

We may never know the truth about that possibility; but, when looked at through the prism of treatment of the Saudi citizen, Abdul Rahman Ali Halbari, it certainly appears that may be the case.

by Michael Thompson
Chairman/President of the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy

[Special to Virginia News Source]

Regardless of how one feels about the recent transportation law, all agree it will pour over $1 billion of year into Virginia's aging transportation infrastructure and should build necessary capacity to meet our growing infrastructure needs.

Governor McDonnell did all elected officials, and the two candidates for Governor this year, a huge favor by moving the transportation discussion from "where are we going to get the money?" to a more management focused question of "how are we going to spend the money?"

And this is an incredibly important change in focus. Taxpayers and those who vote will be carefully looking to see if these new monies are well-spent.

If these new funds aren't spent in a way that relieves congestion and helps grow our economy then a massive failure of leadership will be the result. A good example of "wise spending" is in Northern Virginia: the years of delay and the complaints of "Lexus lanes" aimed at the recently opened High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes have disappeared as the traffic congestion in the mornings and evenings on Virginia's Capital Beltway has dramatically improved. And the rapid pace of building additional HOT lanes south from Springfield into Prince William County on I-95 shows that transportation construction can proceed quickly with well crafted public private partnerships.

The new transportation dollars need to focus on congestion relief and economic development. As traffic moves more quickly, the positive corollary impact is that pollution will be significantly reduced. It will be the job of our next Governor and his Secretary of Transportation to be sure that state monies are not wasted on unnecessary projects such as bike paths where there are few if any bike riders, garden patches that clearly don't relieve congestion, and $1 million bus stops as has been the case in at least one jurisdiction.

You might recall the peaceful demonstrations of the Iranian people several years back. They were shot in the streets by the leadership, but how would the landscape have changed if they had succeeded in overthrowing the government? Very little because in the Muslim culture, the people are not the power.

The truth is, there is no such thing as anarchy. Whenever people have succeeded in overthrowing a government, the most powerful coalition moves in to fill the void. Consider Iran, Libya, Egypt, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. Then think Shiite (Iran), Sunni (Libya & Egypt), Alawite (Syria), and Wahabi (Saudi Arabia). These are the power groups, and they are all brutal, intolerant, and determined. It does not matter who wins because none fight for democracy – they fight for theocratic control.
 
It is time Americans, and our government, acknowledge that this is the problem with "freedom fighting" in the Islamic regions. It is not freedom fighting at all, but simply replacing one militant and tyrannical ideology for another. They have little interest in equality, a popular vote, or a democratic form of government. It is obvious that any such trends, including those encouraged in Iraq and Afghanistan, are merely charades within a culture that has been firmly indoctrinated under Islamic rule: "Fight against those...who do not believe in Allah nor the Last Day; who do not forbid what Allah and His messenger have forbidden, and who do not adopt the religion of truth until they pay the tribute out of hand, utterly subdued." (Surah 9:29)

Islam is designed as a political power, not just a religion. Unlike New Testament evangelism, Muhammad's example was conquest, not merely conversion. Hence the term "utterly subdued", and his well-documented massacre of 900 Jews in Medina who rejected his authority. Muhammad also made peace treaties to stall for time until he was sufficiently positioned to overcome his enemies. Does that tactic sound familiar when it comes to the PLO, Hezbollah, and Hamas?

Finally, look at the results of our past efforts in Iran and Egypt with the Shah and Mubarrak. Maybe it aided our access to oil for a time, but that also distracted us from pursuing energy independence. Maybe it calmed down some tensions with Israel, but that was a peace short-lived. It  ultimately provided opportunities for powerful factions to position themselves for conquest, especially the Muslim Brotherhood which has become predominant throughout the region. Their goal is a unification of Islamic nations under Sharia law against all other nations and religions. This is their manifest destiny: the global caliphate.

The only reasonable course in foreign policy is to distance ourselves from the internal conflicts of such cultures and prepare for the coming cataclysm. We should definitely not be equipping any of them with weapons to eventually turn against us (as has often been the case), or funding them with subsidies to their tenacious crusades. Remember, it was our nation's founders who affirmed that our system of government and culture can only succeed with a people of morality, education, and biblical values – all severely lacking in the ruthless Muslim countries. We will either prevail by our values, or yield to their alternatives. Let us focus our resolve on the destiny of America and Israel, and leave the barbaric sects to fight among themselves.

Ira White - Portsmouth