Prescient Moonbat - NYT OpEd shows his credentials

Re(1): 'The Declining Terrorist Threat', NYT OpEd, 2001/07/10, Larry C. Johnson
Re(2): 'The Declining Terrorist Threat', OpEd reprinted in full
Re(3): 'Stay on Guard Against Terrorism', NYT Reader Response, Joseph Muckerman
Re(4): 'Mr. Counterterrorism Guru', National Review, Byron York

HT: 'Your a Dead Man', Confederate Yankee

UPDATED: Oh, dear god!!!

Larry Johnson proved Moonbat Prescient when he put his heart, soul, and reputation on the line writing a NYT OpEd titled ‘The Declining Terrorist Threat’ on July 10, 2001.

If you are silly enough to pay for pap and drivel in the NYT Select read his OpEd here.

Otherwise, here is this fine example of his prescient prognostication

An excerpt:

The greatest risk is clear: if you are drilling for oil in Colombia — or in nations like Ecuador, Nigeria or Indonesia — you should take appropriate precautions; otherwise Americans have little to fear.

Although high-profile incidents have fostered the perception that terrorism is becoming more lethal, the numbers say otherwise, and early signs suggest that the decade beginning in 2000 will continue the downward trend. A major reason for the decline is the current reluctance of countries like Iraq, Syria and Libya, which once eagerly backed terrorist groups, to provide safe havens, funding and training.

...

Larry C. Johnson is a former State Department counterterrorism specialist

In contrast, the famous Mr. Muckerman replied to Mr. Johnson's expert analysis on July 14, 2001 in 'Stay on Guard Against Terrorism'.

To the Editor:

Re ''The Declining Terrorist Threat'' (Op-Ed, July 10):

Larry C. Johnson contends that it is time ''to take a deep breath and reflect on why we are so fearful'' of the terrorist threat. He states that of the 423 terrorist incidents reported last year, only 153 were judged to be ''significant'' and only 17 involved American citizens or businesses.

What he does not say is that weapons of mass destruction and disruption continue to proliferate and continue to be acquired by so-called rogue states and organizations, many of whom have declared war on our nation. They can target our cities and infrastructure with missiles or hand-delivered terror weapons.

The attack on Pearl Harbor was successful because we, as a nation, had not crossed a mental threshold that admitted that our territory could be attacked. Let us not make that mistake again.

JOSEPH E. MUCKERMAN Alexandria, Va., July 10, 2001 The writer was director of emergency planning for the Pentagon from 1986 to 1992.

Can the MSM please offer a talking head position to Mr. Muckerman. This may surprise the editors of the NYT, but Mr. Muckerman was right. He also wrote an article I bet is rather intriguing: “Rethink the Nuclear Threat.” Orbis, Winter 1994, v. 38, no. 1, p. 99-

Personally, I have heard enough from Mr. Johnson.

More from Mr. Muckerman:

‘An Army at the Ready’ – NYT, September 6, 2000
‘Lesson of Pearl Harbor’ – NYT, December 16, 1999
‘Add Civil Defense’ – NYT, January 30, 1997

The fool Larry C. Johnson grabbed a pen and wrote himself into history...

But, at least when not being pumped up by the media as the expert of all terrorism experts he has a streak of honesty:

Of course, he didn’t give an inch, either. “I stand by everything I said in that piece,” Johnson says. “Go through it in detail. Put it into the right context. . . . Nowhere in that article did I say we needed to ignore Islamic terrorism.” Mark that up as another bold statement.

On the issue of his credentials, Johnson says he received commendations for his work at the CIA, but he takes a more modest tone than one might expect. “I don’t represent myself to be Mr. Counterterrorism Guru,” he says. “I get introduced as the deputy director of counterterrorism at the State Department. But my full title was deputy director for transportation security, antiterrorism assistance training, and special operations. In Washington, the longer your title, the less important you are, and I had a really long title.”

As for his connections — how he knows enough to speak about the CIA after 17
years away — well, that’s where the openness ends. “I’m not going to get into
the specifics of how I know what I know,” Johnson says. And that’s that.

Update (2006/07/26 2013 PST)

Dear god, there is a Guckert/Gannon angle to this...

If we get Johnson, Wilson, Plame, Momma Moonbat, Heltzik, Leopold, Greenwald, Frisch and all their assorted sock puppets together we can mix them all up for another 15 minutes of fame.