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Steven Emerson Cites FBI: Will it Take Another Attack to Really Take the Threat Seriously?

By Andrew Cochran

We're starting the round of 4th-anniversary perspectives on the 9/11 attacks, and we'll see numerous stories about our success or failure and our will to continue. Two stories today are among many that make me wonder whether we have lost "the edge." Today's Sunday Telegraph reports that "A Muslim accused of anti-Semitism is to be appointed to a government role in charge of rooting out extremism in the wake of last month's suicide bombings in London." Inayat Bunglawala has called the British media "Zionist-controlled"; in 1993, he called terrorist Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman "courageous" a month before Rahman bombed the World Trade Center in New York,a nd after Rahman's arrest, Bunglawala said that it was probably duw to his "calling on Muslims to fulfil their duty to Allah and to fight against oppression and oppressors everywhere"; and five months before 9/11, Bunglawala called UBL a "freedom fighter" and circulated his writings to Muslims in Britain. Surely the Blair government will not entrust such an important mission to such a biased and unqualified individual. (Tip to "Sophie" for this story.) I also have to wonder why the Brits would lower the terror threat level when, as today's Sunday Times reports, Al Qaeda's has attempted a gas attack on Parliament. The story reports that "senior officers are worried that security at the houses of parliament remains 'unacceptable'."

But I most worry about Americans going soft - about our taking the lack of attacks here for granted, and forgetting that al Qaeda took 7 years between attacks on the WTC. Today's Orlando Sentinel has a review of the National Geographic Channel's "Inside 9/11," which airs tonight and tomorrow night at 9 pm ET. The Sentinel cites and quotes Steven Emerson's segment in the special on his conversations with FBI agents. "They understood that it would take more blood in order to get the government to react," Emerson says. "And now I'm hearing other FBI and other officials say to me, 'Steve, we're going to need another 9-11.'" That's not a rosy scenario. You can see part of Steve's interview in the special here. We will have much more to say about the issue as we approach the anniversary.

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