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Fox’s Oliver North Blames Times Square Bombing on Pelosi and House Democrats
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Yesterday, a “shadowy figure on a bicycle” planted a small bomb that shattered the glass facade of the military recruiting station in Times Square in New York City. An investigation into the incident has begun.
Fox News’ Ollie North, however, has found his scapegoat. This morning, he said the incident may have been prevented had the House and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) granted a renewal of the Protect America Act:
Last month, of course, the U.S. House of Representatives under the direction of Nancy Pelosi went on vacation rather than voting on the Protect America Act, which provided for wiretapping of terrorists making phone calls into and out of the United States to foreign places.
And I note that it would have been a lot easier, perhaps, to find out who did this, or even to know that they were planning it, had we been able to intercept those communications.
North’s comments are a sad attempt to politicize a tragic bombing. In reality, surveillance that began under the law will be able to continue, and intelligence officials can initiate new surveillance against suspected terrorists by simply getting a warrant through the FISA court. The warrants can even be obtained after the surveillance has begun. North, however, conveniently failed to mention this.
Conservatives have stalled Congress from negotiating on the PAA. Last week, Senate GOP leaders blocked another extension of the PAA. In fact, the Politico reported this week that some Republicans are boycotting the negotation meetings.
North’s statements echo CNN’s Glenn Beck, who said recently, “Nancy Pelosi will end up killing Americans.”
Satyam Khanna is a Research Associate for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress.
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