# Michael Scheuer, on Glen Beck, dreams of terrorist WMD attack on U.S. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 6, 2009, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046 "2009-07-06T03:31:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/41 "2009-07-06T17:42:28Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > **Of course** he’s right – except in his assumptions that that would be (1) a good thing and (2) worth the price in carnage. Well, border security is always a good thing. As for the second, I don’t know that he’s saying that it’s worth the price in carnage…just that he doesn’t see any other way it’s going to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/42 "2009-07-06T18:15:28Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Well, border security is always a good thing. As for the second, I don’t know that he’s saying that it’s worth the price in carnage…just that he doesn’t see any other way it’s going to happen. The assertion that a catastrophic domestic attack offers the USA its “only hope as a country” seems pretty unequivocal. Clearly, Osama bin Laden _is_ Obi Wan Kenobi: Same sartorial style; unfortunate facial hair; same first initial and number of syllables in name; lives in a cave in a desolate, god-forsaken wasteland; and represents the only hope of a beleaguered Republic. It all makes perfect sense – from _a certain point of view._ ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/43 "2009-07-06T18:37:07Z")
> [@tagos](#): > > Traitors. Both of them. How so? [QUOTE=FoieGrasIsEvil] The guy (Scheuer) is a former CIA operative, so he may know some stuff. The book mentioned in the OP is actually a pretty decent read. Don’t know where he gets off thinking that another massive terrorist attack is “just the thing we need”, though. That’s pretty batty. [/QUOTE] I don’t see him saying that’s what we need, just that there would be an upside to it. I also don’t see him saying or implying that he’d _like_ it to happen. [QUOTE=BrainGlutton] Of course he’s right – except in his assumptions that that would be (1) a good thing and (2) worth the price in carnage. [/QUOTE] Cite? And, uh, BrainGlutton, thanks for the link to the _The Nation’s_ take on things. :rolleyes: I can see you’re up to your usual standards of due diligence when it comes to starting threads. Just in case you or anyone else is interested, [here’s a transcript.](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,498765,00.html) [QUOTE=Voyager] This is clearly the new Republican logic. The only way to prevent a terrorist attack is to have one. [/QUOTE] Or, “A good way to help prevent a terrorist attack is to keep terrorists out. Our southern border does a woefully poor job of keeping people out, making it a route that terrorists could take. Our government is not sufficiently interested in securing our border. But that would change if we had a terrorist attack.” Where’s the flaw? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/44 "2009-07-06T18:41:56Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > I don’t see him saying that’s what we need, just that there would be an upside to it. I also don’t see him saying or implying that he’d _like_ it to happen. He may not have said that he’d personally enjoy it, but he certainly said it would be a good thing. [QUOTE=Scheuer] The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States. [/QUOTE] Remember all the shit Joe Biden deservedly got for predicting a terrorist attack or disaster during Obama’s presidency? This is about a million times worse. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/45 "2009-07-06T18:43:24Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > And, uh, BrainGlutton, thanks for the link to the _The Nation’s_ take on things. :rolleyes: I can see you’re up to your usual standards of due diligence when it comes to starting threads. Just in case you or anyone else is interested, [here’s a transcript.](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,498765,00.html) What are you talking about? You’re linking to a transcript of an entirely different show. There’s a _video_ of the conversation in the OP link. Scheuer _really does say_ “The only chance we have as a country right now is for Osama bin Laden to deploy and detonate a major weapon in the United States.” Sure sounds like he thinks we need it to me. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/46 "2009-07-06T18:49:26Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > This is clearly the new Republican logic. The only way to prevent a terrorist attack is to have one. The only way to show you’re not a quitter is to quit. Is there anyone left in that party with an IQ higher than a Twinkie? Buckley’s corpse, perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/47 "2009-07-06T18:49:33Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Our southern border does a woefully poor job of keeping people out, making it a route that terrorists could take. If I were a terrorist I would try to sneak into the U.S by way of the **Canadian** border – it’s much longer and hardly anybody watches it. Or simply land a boat somewhere. Problem is, America’s coastlines and borders are just too long to be effectively sealed, even if we increased the Coast Guard and border patrol budgets tenfold. We don’t even have the resources to open and inspect every cargo container that arrives at a port of entry. Any one of those could contain a ticking bomb. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/48 "2009-07-06T20:25:35Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Or, “A good way to help prevent a terrorist attack is to keep terrorists out. Our southern border does a woefully poor job of keeping people out, making it a route that terrorists could take. Our government is not sufficiently interested in securing our border. But that would change if we had a terrorist attack.” Where’s the flaw? It didn’t the last time we had one - not that they came from the South anyway. Not to mention that well funded terrorists are going to visit in more comfortable ways than desert walks. Our northern border is no better than our southern one in keeping people who want to come over out, but those people speak English, have money, and want to buy our gas. But that’s just why it is impractical. Hoping for people to die so that we’ll all be convinced of their point of view is the offensive part. if they can’t convince people using plain rhetoric than either they’re not very good at it or they are wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/49 "2009-07-06T20:26:45Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > Buckley’s corpse, perhaps. Buckley’s corpse’s right pinkie. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/50 "2009-07-06T21:27:10Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > This is clearly the new Republican logic. The only way to prevent a terrorist attack is to have one. The only way to show you’re not a quitter is to quit. Is there anyone left in that party with an IQ higher than a Twinkie? And the only way to defend marriage is to screw around on your mate, eh? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/51 "2009-07-06T21:50:00Z")
And the only way to shrink the government is to grow it, and the only way to preserve peace is to start wars. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/52 "2009-07-06T21:53:42Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > If I were a terrorist I would try to sneak into the U.S by way of the **Canadian** border – it’s much longer and hardly anybody watches it. That’s what [Ahmed Rassam](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Ressam), an al Qaeda member who was involved in an unsuccessful plan to bomb LAX in 2000, actually tried. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/53 "2009-07-06T21:54:56Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > And the only way to shrink the government is to grow it, and the only way to preserve peace is to start wars. I can’t wait to hear how you plan on increasing virginity. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/54 "2009-07-06T21:56:44Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > That’s what [Ahmed Rassam](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmed_Ressam), an al Qaeda member who was involved in an unsuccessful plan to bomb LAX in 2000, actually tried. Indeed. And it’s also what Hilary Clinton, McCain and Napolitano have all WRONGLY stated that the 911 hijackers tried. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/55 "2009-07-06T22:27:35Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I can’t wait to hear how you plan on increasing virginity. Me? I’m opposed to it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/56 "2009-07-06T23:01:37Z")
[QUOTE=ETF] And the only way to defend marriage is to screw around on your mate, eh? [/QUOTE] Not the **only** way, to be sure. Among the nuggets of paternal wisdom I have passed along is this: “There’s more than one way to skin a cat, but some are more entertaining than others.” ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/57 "2009-07-06T23:29:27Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Not the **only** way, to be sure. Among the nuggets of paternal wisdom I have passed along is this: “There’s more than one way to skin a cat, but some are more entertaining than others.” There’s a wretched pun on “Pussy Galore” in there somewhere, but danged if i can dredge it out. ---
**Author:** ![wolfstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@wolfstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfstu)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/58 "2009-07-06T23:37:47Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Well, border security is always a good thing. Really? > [@](#): > > **[The Schengen Agreement](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_Agreement)** is a treaty signed between five of the ten member states of the European Community in 1985. … It provided for the **removal of systematic border controls** between the participating countries. … The borderless zone created by the Schengen Agreements, the Schengen Area, currently consists of twenty-five European countries. > [@](#): > > [As from today](http://www.deljpn.ec.europa.eu/home/news_en_newsobj081212%5B3%5D.php), **land border controls between Switzerland and the 24 countries** currently making up the Schengen area **have been lifted**. Switzerland is also joining the Dublin system, which establishes the criteria for determining which Member State is responsible for examining an application for asylum. > > Commission President, Mr José Manuel Barroso, announced: “I would like to congratulate Switzerland … **Schengen has been successful in dismantling obstacles to unity, peace and freedom in Europe** , while also paving the way for enhanced security. …”… > > **This will facilitate the development of border regions and the expansion of tourism, and will have a beneficial impact on infrastructures**. For bona fide travellers, moving between the existing Schengen members and Switzerland will be faster and easier. Meanwhile: > [@](#): > > **[New U.S. rules](http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2009/05/31/border-rules.html)** on cross-border travel that take effect Monday represent a “heightened militarization” that will **hurt the traditionally close relationship between border communities** , the mayor of Sarnia, Ont., said Sunday. … > > Border towns like Niagara Falls, Ont., are getting ready for what’s normally a busy tourist season. But it seems some Americans feel the steep price of coming to Canada isn’t worth it. > > “We don’t have a passport and it’s like $100 to get one, as I understand, and so we decided to go for one last time,” said a man from the U.S. who was visiting Niagara Falls, Ont., on Saturday. > [@](#): > > **[Provinces, border states unite to fight U.S. travel rules](http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/05/13/border-cards.html)** > > Five Canadian provinces and six New England states vowed Saturday to fight new U.S. rules that would require passports or sophisticated identity cards to travel to the United States. > > In a draft statement released Saturday at the end of the two-day conference, the delegates urged Washington to delay implementation of the new law or seek alternatives that would be less damaging. > > The final communiqué was ratified by the provinces of Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island, as well as by the states of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hampshire. > > … > > The **11 governments said they object to the new border rules** because they will create a **bureaucratic nightmare, damage trade and shake up border life**. > > … > > Reuters said **the rules would drive a wedge between border communities** that are culturally and economically entwined, and strain the world’s biggest economic relationship by **slowing the $1.1 billion US in trade flowing each day** across the border. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/59 "2009-07-07T08:41:35Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Since I am typing this from a desk in Cincinnati right now, yes, yes I would. Please use Cleveland and/or Pittsburgh from now on. I think every reasonable person can agree that if the cesspool of STDs known as Baltimore were wiped out, nothing of value would be lost. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046/60 "2009-07-07T13:11:33Z")
I remember after the Cold War you’d get movies about how the CIA wanted to create a terrorist incident in order to keep the country paranoid and keep funding national security. It was entertaining, but it would have been perfectly sensible for people to say that it was just a movie and only fringe loonies feel like that in real life. Forward a decade. A couple of guys in the national media openly fantasize about Osama Bin Laden coming to teach America a lesson. But I love the fact that Beck thinks Osama is less likely to attack with Obama in the White House. What a terrible dilemma! Only when the Republicans are back in control will Osama attack us again and show us how foolish we were to have Democrats in control! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-scheuer-on-glen-beck-dreams-of-terrorist-wmd-attack-on-u-s/502046.md?page=4)