Quick! Hide under your beds! The Scary Brown People are still out there!

I fucking hate these fearmongering bastards.

Al-Qaida terrorists may be plotting more urgently to attack the United States to maintain their credibility and ability to recruit followers, the U.S. military commander in charge of domestic defense said.

Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, chief of the U.S. Northern Command, also told reporters Thursday he has not seen any direct threats tied to the U.S. presidential elections. But he said it would be rash to think that such threats are not there.

"We need only to look at Spain and see that they're certainly willing to try to do something that is significant that could affect an election process," Renuart said. "I think it would be imprudent of us to let down our guard believing that if there's no credible threat that you know of today, there won't be something tomorrow."

In other words, it would be irresponsible not to speculate.

Shut the fuck up, General Renuart. You're an embarrassment to your uniform, your oath, and your country. No direct threats but, you know, they're Still Out There Trying to Kill Us. Why wouldn't it be "rash" to think that the threats are there, huh? Asshole.

By the way, isn't "Renuart" a French name?

While he said that U.S. authorities have thwarted attacks on a number of occasions, he said terrorist cells may be working harder than ever to plot high-impact events. He did not point to any specific intelligence that authorities have received but said the "chatter" they are hearing "gives me no reason to believe they're going to slow down" in their efforts to target the U.S.

"If an organization like that is to maintain credibility and continue to grow more of its extremists, it has to show tangible results," Renuart said. "So I think there may be a certain sense of urgency among that organization to have an effect. So it would tell me that they're trying harder."

"May be working harder than ever" ... "may be a certain sense of urgency" ... Maybe a presidential election coming up, and you have to get the bed-wetters to the polls to support Huggy Bear and his Hundred Years' War?

It would be irresponsible not to speculate.

He still doesn't get it

Drunky McStagger today, in Tampa:

Moving toward a veto of a war spending bill, President Bush said Tuesday that Democrats who made the legislation a showdown over withdrawing U.S. troops could turn Iraq into a "cauldron of chaos" with their approach.

"Success in Iraq is critical to the security of free people everywhere," Bush said at the headquarters of U.S. Central Command, which oversees military operations in the Middle East, including Iraq.

[...]

The president did not explicitly mention the war funding legislation. But he made clear indirectly how he feels about its requirement that troops begin to be withdrawn by Oct. 1, and defending his policy of not only keeping troops in Iraq, but increasing their numbers.

Bush said that pulling the American presence from Baghdad before Iraqis are capable of defending themselves would have disastrous results — giving al-Qaida terrorists a safe haven from which to operate and an inspiration for new recruits and new attacks.

"Withdrawal would have increased the probability that coalition troops would be forced to return to Iraq one day and confront an enemy that is even more dangerous," he said in remarks to representatives from countries participating in the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq. "Failure in Iraq should be unacceptable to the civilized world."

How much more proof do we need that the man is seriously deluded, or worse? Iraq is already in chaos. What's the opposite of "chaos?" "Order?" Can anyone (other than maybe John McCain, who is equally deluded) verifiably and credibly argue that Iraq is functioning properly and that everything is in order? Or, alternatively, that al-Qaeda isn't already finding Iraq to be a "safe haven?"

No, I didn't think so.

Drunky's doing a fine job of setting up the meme for after the inevitable withdrawal of the troops: blame the Democrats. But I think beyond the mentally unstable 30% or so of the American populace who still believe in this moron (a number that includes many members of the MSM), the public will see through this as a ruse just like so much of the maladministration's policies have been ruses.

Nedra Pickler takes on Bill Richardson

AP writer Nedra Pickler long has been known (scroll down) for writing absolute dreck that props up GOP stooges and denigrates Democrats. Today she's unsheathed her red pen to go after New Mexico governor and Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson.

In a speech today in Baltimore, Richardson, who will be the guest on Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart tonight, warned that more attention must be paid to al-Qaeda and less to Iraq, especially with a looming threat that the terrorist network could gain access to nuclear weapons.

But check out who Nedra cited, apparently without provocation:

Asked why he doesn't support a nuclear-free world like former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and other Cold War leaders have promoted, Richardson replied, "I'm a pragmatist."

"I believe what the world needs to do is nuclear arms reductions," Richardson said. He recalled that it didn't work when President Reagan and Soviet Prime Minister Mikhail Gorbachev agreed in 1986 to renounce all nuclear weapons "for about 10 minutes."

Richardson worked on securing Russian nuclear weapons when he was energy secretary in the Clinton administration. But he accused the Bush administration of underfunding their programs.

"Meanwhile, we are spending $10 billion a month on Iraq," he said. "Of the many ways in which the Iraq war has distracted us from our real national security needs, this is the most dangerous."

No word on whether Nedra gets an extra-special bonus for mentioning Kissinger in her article. But it wouldn't surprise me.

Know when to fold 'em

Taking a page from the medical tactics of Bill Frist and Tom Coburn, al-Qaeda has taken to analyzing and diagnosing Drunky McStagger from afar.

CAIRO, Egypt - Al-Qaida's No. 2 said President Bush was an alcoholic and a lying gambler who wagered on Iraq and lost, according to a new audiotape released Tuesday by a U.S. group that tracks extremist messages. The Washington-based SITE Institute released a transcript of the audio by Ayman al-Zawahri, which it said it had intercepted from Islamic militant Web sites where his messages are usually posted.

"Bush suffers from an addictive personality, and was an alcoholic. I don't know his present condition ... but the one who examines his personality finds that he is addicted to two other faults — lying and gambling," al-Zawahri said in the audiotape.

Not to give any undue credence to a member of al-Qaeda (just how do you spell that, anyway?), but I have to say, that's a pretty impressive diagnosis for not having examined the patient.

Okay, okay, I don't know about Drunky's gambling ... but three out of four ain't bad.

Adjusting my tin-foil hat

With tonight's news of the military strike against al-Qaeda targets in Somalia, let's pause to appreciate the timing of the action.

Surely it's coincidental that this occurs, or at least is announced, less than 48 hours before Drunky McStagger announces his "new way forward" ... I mean, it's not designed to prop up his flagging poll numbers or give him any "evidence" of further terrorist threats, right? I'm sure Drunky wouldn't use the military as his personal plaything to accomplish political ends.


...


HAHAHAHAHAHA!

I knew I couldn't say all that with a straight face!

Of course today's strike was politically motivated! You need go no further than the above-linked article to reach that conclusion:

The U.S. has believed for years that a group of al-Qaida operatives has been hiding in Somalia.

That's years, folks ... not weeks or months, but years. And only just now, two days before a big speech, is it militarily and strategically expedient to strike.

If you believe that, I've got some real estate not too far west of here that may interest you ...