9 News Items Missed in 2009

These are 9 news stories that the establishment missed in 2009. Either they reported belatedly, partially, or not at all.

What strikes me about this list is how very important these stories were and how derided they were by the established elites. On the extremists-in-government stories, I recall how much attention was paid to these when the Republicans were in power. If they were important then, they were important this year, too.

More Terror Attacks on US

News today that another terror attack occured on NW Flite 253 to Detroit.

That's two attacks in just a few months. This compares to the record of the Bush years.

The Fort Hood attack was definetly related to left-wing attitudes on profiling and political correctness. This one is too new for us to know about yet. The suspect appeared to be a Nigerian who transited in via London and Amsterdam. Nigeria has a substantial Muslim population.

One of the Bush Administration anti-terror policies had been the cooperation of European Banks to track terrorism's financing. The New York Times decided to override Bush's objections and publicized this part of the anti-terrorism policy. As a result, the European banks invovlved, discontinued their cooperation. Since then, the threat of exposure and retaliation has inhibited private European institutions from cooperating with the US government.

For all the harranging on Bush for his anti-terror policies being too strict, the proof was in the scorecard. No major terror attack on US soil for the duration of his watch. Obama takes over and now what?

It is time to re-examine the Bush anti-terror policies. Those that worked and have been removed ought to be reinstated. Safety ought to trump ideology on this issue.

Middle East Necessity

This essay by Thomas L. Friedman in the New York Times says that we can't do the Arab's fighting and dying for them. They have got to take ownership themselves of the fight against terrorism themselves.

True, kind of. The problem of indeginous support vexed Abraham Lincoln in the Civil War. Southerners who said they supported the Union but weren't willing to sacrifice to do it. Still, the job got done. The army had to conquer and then occupy the land for many years, though.