SPECIAL COMMENT 12/6/07, keith olbermann

Osama call will not affect war on terror’

Here is another story people need to hear.


* Afghan official says ‘security in the country international responsibility’

KABUL: Afghanistan Friday dismissed a call attributed to Osama bin Laden for Europe to break ranks with the United States and leave this nation, saying it would not harm international unity in the “war on terror.”

The call was made in an audiotape attributed to the world’s most wanted man and aired on Al-Jazeera television on Thursday. “Security in Afghanistan means security in Europe and is an international responsibility,” Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen told AFP.

International responsibility: “We think this is an international responsibility for Afghanistan and their own countries.

Nothing will deter the international unity on the war on terror,” he said. A voice purported to be that of the Al Qaeda chief said in a “message to the European peoples” that the United States “insisted on invading” Afghanistan even though it knew that Afghans were not behind the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. “I affirm that the Afghans - government and people - had no knowledge whatsoever of these events and America knows that,” he said.

A US-led coalition invaded Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks because the then Taliban government did not hand over Al Qaeda leaders for the atrocities purportedly committed by them. It has been joined by a NATO-led force that now numbers about 41,000 soldiers from 38 nations.

Despite a massive manhunt and a 25-million-dollar bounty on his head, bin Laden has evaded capture and has regularly taunted the United States and its allies through warnings issued on video and audio cassettes. afp

A Plan to Cut Antiterror Spending Is Criticized by State’s Leaders

A White House plan to slash antiterror grant programs by more than half would threaten the safety of American cities, New York politicians charged yesterday.
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Senator Charles E. Schumer blasted the Bush administration’s plan to eliminate some port and rail security programs and cut security grants for states and cities to $1.4 billion in 2009 from $3.4 billion in the 2007 fiscal year.

“To say, no port security, no transit security, when we know that our ports and transit lines are targets for terrorists makes no sense if you want to protect America,” Mr. Schumer said.

Other officials said the cuts would penalize a city attacked by terrorists on Sept. 11, 2001, and in 1993.

“It’s stunning that the federal government would consider cutting New York City’s homeland security funds from the already inadequate level that currently exists,” said John Gallagher, a spokesman for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

The federal government has given $23 billion in antiterror grants to states and municipalities since the Sept. 11 attacks, but some have criticized the programs as pork-barrel spending.

According to budget documents obtained by The Associated Press, the Bush administration is not convinced that the money has been well spent and thinks the nation’s highest-risk cities have largely satisfied their emergency need to improve security.

Officials with the White House Office of Management and Budget said the president’s budget proposals had yet to be completed. Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said Friday that the White House would strongly support any needed antiterror programs.

Still, Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s spokeswoman, Christine Anderson, likened the White House proposal to a “‘bean counter’ approach to protecting our homeland when sound policy is what’s required.”

Mr. Schumer estimated that if the cuts were accepted by Congress, New York City’s share of the aid might drop to $70 million or $80 million from $134 million.