| 18 December 2005 Too Hot It is cold in Washington , but in the context of the calamities of this year, I can deal with that. At the moment, things are fairly calm, no Tsunamis or Hurricanes, and thankfully even Congress finally went home, leaving us alone on the suddenly quiet streets of the District. That is the good news, but I think they will be back. The din when they are in session is deafening, like when the good news about the Iraqi elections was drowned out by the furor over the Spooks at the National Security Agency listening in on our phone calls. The editors of the New York Times decided to turn up the heat and break that story on the very day of the election, throwing a hand grenade at the Senators who were meeting to discuss the extension of the Patriot Act, which permits certain latitude by the Cops and the Spooks regarding Constitutional liberties. I'm as deeply suspicious of the Government as anyone, maybe more so, because I used to be part of it. But the Times story derailed the issue. They sat on the story for over a year, and they must have been biting their tongues, poor dears. I get so confused. We are either at war, or we are not. Abraham Lincoln suspended the basic right of Habeus Corpus for the duration of the Civil War. When it was over, it was reinstated. A friend of mine is still a government Spook. He told me that two things drive the fight against terrorists: intercepts and interrogations. He told the Cops later that the message meant that security around the Brooklyn Bridge was impenetrable, and that he could not use an acetylene torch to sever the suspension cables and collapse the historic structure into the East River . I don't know what the editors of the Times would have thought about that. I don't think they live in Brooklyn . After the next attack, they will doubtless slam the Administration for an intelligence failure. They're probably sitting on a draft of the story already. Lyman was an operative of Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, who planned the 9/11 attacks. He is also known as KSM, and al Mukh, which in Arabic means The Brain. He was caught in 2003, and the pictures of him look like he was questioned pretty hard. I agree with Senator McCain about torture. It is a bad thing. But a little discomfort, or at least the prospect of discomfort, can be a useful thing in dealing with bad men. So it is either war, or it is not. I think I'm happy that the Spooks stopped Lyman Faris, and I am delighted that KSM is in some dark slammer someplace where he can't blow up the subway. But in case we are not at war, I hope he is as comfortable as possible, and that it is not too hot for him. Copyright 2005 Vic Socotra |