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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JEB who wrote (298487)	9/19/2002 7:31:18 PM
From: JEB	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

I figured you'd like this guy since he writes for: * CNN, * US News & World Report, * Producer of documentary for PBS, * Won a George Polk Award, * Was a staff member to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. * Wrote 4 books on the subject of the Middle East. I believe he should meet your qualification for credentials.

To: JEB who wrote (298487)	9/19/2002 7:47:54 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Thank you, that was interesting. Still, that article is over five years old. To prevent terrorism, Emerson said the pool of Arabic translators should be enlarged. Well, I don't think those folks will be so willing to cooperate especially since they're now treated like pariahs. After all, any one of them has the potential to be a terrorist. And on that ALONE, Ashcroft can have them detained forever without recourse. Don't get me wrong, please. I have no sympathy for the al Qaeda prisoners or any other terrorists. "Some steps can be taken. The government should enlarge the pool of Arabic translators; establish a real expertisze in fundamentalist Islam; ensure better and more effective coordination of intelligence among its many agencies and branches; and top officials should avoid embracing U.S.-based Islamic groups that really represent radicals and terrorist supporters. This both legitimizes them and crowds out moderate Muslims. MEQ: Do law enforcement agencies take the threat of fundamentalist groups seriously? Emerson: The threat of radical Islamic violence in the United States is no doubt taken very seriously, as indicated by an extraordinary series of public statements made last year by CIA Director John Deutch, FBI Director Louis Freeh, and other top officials. But that doesn't mean law enforcement agencies are always capable of preventing it. MEQ: Do you see a need for more laws? Emerson: It would be a good idea to apply the ones already on the books. President Clinton's Executive Order in January 1995 froze the assets of 14 terrorist groups (twelve Arab or Muslim, two Jewish) but little came of it. FBI and other investigators recommended that, pursuant to the Executive Order, millions of dollars be frozen but the administration rejected those recommendations, with the exception of $800,000 of terrorist assets that had to be frozen since their existence was made public. More laws are not likely now. Although incidents like the explosion of TWA flight 800 in July 1996 -- which ironically now appears to have been the result of a structural malfunction -- keep public sensitivity high, and it immediately led to an increase in Federal air safety regulations, there has lately been a relative relaxation on issues of security. The consensus about the threat to the United States depends upon public perceptions. Were bombs to start going off in the United States, there would certainly be a demand for more strict anti-terrorism laws."