FBI's Deadbeat Tendencies Step Up To Protect Civil Liberties

Those of you who felt threatened by the U.S. government's aggressive surveillance agenda since September 11 can rest a little easier knowing that the ineffable power of bureaucracy is out there protecting your civil liberties. An Office of the Inspector General Report reveals that more than half of the FBI's wiretaps were disconnected due to the Bureau's failure to pay its phone bills on time.

Full text of the FBI audit

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Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink

 

I'm Sorry, But I Want The Mug

I'm sorry. I am as patriotic as the next guy, but I simply must have an As-Sahab Productions coffee mug.

Azzam the American is back.

How "on the run" can al Qaeda be if they have time and energy to make promotional items for their staffers? And that laptop with Bluetooth mouse is nicer than mine. (Although given al Qaeda's alleged computer security prowess, you'd think Azzam would know better than to be running Bluetooth.)

Much ink has already been devoted to his threats against President George Bush.

In addition to a whole lot of political rhetoric, a not-insignificant chunk of the 50-minute tract is devoted to a series of theological attacks on Christianity and an attempt to argue the superiority of Islam.

Azzam is not exactly an inspired thinker. The sophistication of his theology is around what you would expect to hear in a freshman dorm after midnight, arguing that the trinity doesn't make logical sense (as opposed to the purely scientific concept of 72 virgins, I suppose).

But it's an odd sort of tack to take, positioning al Qaeda as the new Jehovah's Witnesses.

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Posted by J.M. Berger | Permalink