Dum Pendebat Filius

A few weeks ago, I mentioned Joseph Farah’s nightmare scenario: that of Al-Qaeda nukes being brought across the United States’ porous southern border. Today Farah has teamed up with the FrontPage Magazine crew to break us off a chunk of that funky stuff:

There is no question, based on captured documents and captured al-Qaida leaders that Osama bin Laden has been planning his “American Hiroshima” for many years — long before Sept. 11, 2001. When you hear U.S. officials — from President Bush, to Vice President Dick Cheney, to the head of the FBI and Homeland Security all telling us about the “inevitability” of a terrorist attack on the U.S. with weapons of mass destruction, this is what they are talking about. They haven’t come right out and made the announcements about what they know is the threat because they have determined it might create a panic. We’re not reporting anything the White House doesn’t know. We’re not reporting anything the CIA doesn’t know. We’re not reporting anything the FBI doesn’t know. We’re just reporting what the American people don’t know. And since the government is doing next to nothing to protect the American people, it seems appropriate to let them in on the dirty little secret.

There is a major threat to the U.S. civilian population from al-Qaida’s existing nuclear arsenal — and, based on the evidence, I believe some of that arsenal has already been delivered to this country.

He even goes so far as to suggest the unthinkable might happen on Saturday:

Dates are very important to al-Qaida, as we have come to know, and one of the dates mentioned in connection with this “American Hiroshima” plan is Aug. 6, the anniversary of the U.S. nuclear attack on Hiroshima in 1945. No year has been set, but it is worth noting that this Aug. 6th is the 60th anniversary of that attack.

What can we do about it?

FP: This scenario and information is all truly horrifying. Is there anything you can tell us that would give us grounds for optimism? Is there any hope? What can be done to prevent an American Hiroshima from transpiring, for by the evidence you present, it seems inevitable.

Farah: Pray very hard.

Interestingly, Farah didn’t use this interview as another chance to sing the praises of the Minutemen. Instead, he makes what sounds to me like a very reasonable and intelligent suggestion: that the US government hire more Arab Jews to do counter-terrorist intelligence work. He claims that these Arab Jews are being openly discriminated against:

We have many documented reports of Arab-American FBI translators who speak approvingly of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida being retained and relied on for sensitive intelligence-collecting positions. At the same time we have documented reports of Arab Jews — people who fled for their lives from Iraq, Syria and other Arab countries being systematically denied those same translating positions. Why? Apparently because they might have loyalty to Israel! It is blatant anti-Semitism being demonstrated by the U.S. government. Not only is it a self-destructive and counter-intuitive operation, it is blatantly illegal. But it continues still.

Now, I’m not about to argue with his suggestion that we need more Arabic speakers doing intelligence work. We desperately need them, as many of them as we can get. I frankly doubt that his claims of Arab Jews being discriminated against and refused work are true, but I have no evidence to the contrary. However, he doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt, and here’s why:

He’s raised the terrifying spectre of Al-Qaeda nukes in the US twice now, that I myself have seen. The first time, he did so in order to praise the Minutemen. The second time, he did so in order to claim that Arab Jews are the victims of discrimination. It looks to me like he’s telling very scary stories in order to bring attention to some causes that are near and dear to his heart. I happen to agree with one of these causes (if Arab Jews are indeed being turned away from goverment employment for fear of their “loyalty to Israel,” that would be criminally, suicidally stupid), but trying to attract attention to yourself by telling nightmare stories about nukes is the very height of recklessness and irresponsibility.