Rep. Mike Rogers (MI), Ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee's Terrorism Subcomittee and a former FBI special agent, wrote a column today for the New York Post:
That drove the point home: Somehow, we're back to a 1993 mindset on terrorism. Holder actually boasts that law enforcement is "the backbone of our national-security efforts." Sorry -- that's not a good thing.
Yes, the prosecution did an effective job in 1993 of taking some terrorists off the street -- but it didn't help gather useful intelligence to stop future attacks. We know today that one 1993 terrorist, Ramzi Yousef, is the nephew of the mastermind of 9/11, Khalid Sheik Mohammed.
We've had 17 years to learn the lessons of 1993, but instead we're back where we started. The government's goal should be prevention -- to stop terrorists before they drive into Times Square, not after the fuse is lit, the bomb detonated and people killed.
Our federal investigators did a commendable job in the Times Square aftermath, but we shouldn't be congratulating ourselves when we came so close to losing innocent Americans.