"A Hell of a Threat Out There"

THE SCRAPBOOK had an opportunity to speak with a Bush administration bigshot last Friday about the thwarted terror plot. We would love to tell you who it was, THE SCRAPBOOK being a full-disclosure kind of guy, but our interviewee insisted on being called merely a Senior Administration Official (SAO).

SCRAPBOOK: Some have described this as the most sophisticated plot since 9/11. Do you agree?

SAO: "I think that's a fair assessment. What concerned us is that it began to look more and more like they were beginning to implement it; activating plans for a trial run, discussion of dates, homing in on airlines--American airlines."

SCRAPBOOK: Bush administration officials often say that it's not an accident that we haven't been hit since 9/11. Can you discuss what post-9/11 Bush administration policies played a role in thwarting these attacks?

SAO: "Not without getting into classified areas. There are two points I'd make. This should be a reminder to everybody that there's still a hell of a threat out there. It's also a cause for some satisfaction that we broke it up. It's not an accident that we haven't been hit. It's because we've been very aggressive in going after terrorists. . . .

"The other thing that stands out in my mind--everybody still focuses on the Middle East as the seedbed where this stuff germinates. But this is not the first time that we've seen a number of people, citizens of a European country, some of them presumably second generation--we don't

SCRAPBOOK: Democrats yesterday pointed to this plot as evidence that jihadists don't like our policies in Iraq.

SAO: "I think it's a huge mistake for Americans to think that somehow we are responsible--that the actions of the jihadists are justified by U.S. policies. We weren't in Iraq when they hit us on 9/11. This sort of blame-America crowd isn't helpful. Look at the series of attacks. It isn't just U.S. policy. Why do you blow up a nightclub in Bali or hit a Jewish organization in Tunis or go after a hotel in Mombasa?

"The idea that the jihadists would all be peaceful, warm, lovable, God-fearing people if it weren't for U.S. policies strikes me as not a valid idea. [Democrats] do not have the understanding or the commitment to take on these forces. It's like John Kerry. The law-enforcement approach doesn't work."

A SEAL Remembered

In his article "The New Band of Brothers" (June 19, 2006), Michael Fumento wrote of the courage and professionalism of 19 Navy SEALs in Ramadi whom he photographed and filmed during a firefight while he was embedded there. "Now there are 18," Fumento writes. "Aviation Ordnanceman 2nd Class (SEAL) Marc Alan Lee has died a true hero's death, laying down his life for his fellow men. He is the first SEAL killed in Iraq."

"According to an embedded reporter with the Stars and Stripes newspaper," Michael writes on his blog at fumento.com, "an enemy sniper shot and wounded one of Lee's SEAL comrades at the start of a firefight that lasted over an hour. Another SEAL was wounded in the battle that proved to be one of the largest in Iraq since the beginning of the insurgency. Lee was posthumously awarded the Silver Star, one of the highest awards in the military, along with a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.