Editorial: What we know / A deadly airline plot and failed Bush policies

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

There is much that we don't know about the plot uncovered last week to blow up 10 airliners over the Atlantic, flying between Great Britain and the United States.

We don't know the hour it would have happened.

We don't know what the human toll would have been.

We don't know the economic fallout that would have followed, not just for the airlines but for other businesses shaken by a security catastrophe.

We don't know the full reach of the terrorist tentacles and where they lead from the suspects in custody.

These and other unknowns will become fleshed out in the weeks ahead as investigators piece together the facts and clues from a dastardly plan that could have rivaled, if not surpassed, the devastation of 9/11 five years ago.

Till then, however, there are some things we do know.

We know that the war in Iraq is not a "war on terror."

We know that the loss of 2,600 good Americans, the injuries of 19,000 others and the wartime expense of $320 billion have been a tragic waste.

We know that because of the cost of Iraq, measures that might truly enhance homeland security, like technology that would spot sinister liquids at airport checkpoints, are hardly affordable.

We know that while the president has cut taxes for the rich, at a time when he says all Americans must do their part, U.S. borders are porous, cargo ships are vulnerable and sophisticated identity scanners remain a fantasy.

Yes, there is much that we don't know. What we do know, based on the foiled plot against U.S.-bound aircraft, is that five years of policies by George W. Bush and the Republicans who control Congress have made the country no more secure and its people no more safe. It is time for a change.
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