WASHINGTON – President Bush vowed yesterday that the feds will do “everything in our power” to protect the homeland, but warned the foiled British plot to blow up U.S.-bound jetliners is proof that America will be fighting terror thugs for years to come.
“The United States of America is engaged in a war against an extremist group of folks bound together by an ideology, willing to use terror to achieve their objectives,” the president said.
“Our most solemn duty in the federal government is to protect the American people, and I will assure the American people that we’re doing everything in our power to protect you,” Bush said during a break in meetings at the National Counterterrorism Center in McLean, Va.
“America is safer than it has been. But it’s not yet safe. The enemy has got an advantage when it comes to attacking our homeland – they’ve got to be right one time, and we’ve got to be right a hundred percent of the time to protect the American people.”
Bush credited agents working at the counterterrorism center for assisting in last week’s bust of the British terror-thug wannabes. He said their painstaking work takes “an incredible amount of time, energy and effort.”
“That plot and this building and the work going on here really is indicative of the challenge we face,” Bush added.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said Bush’s meetings with his Homeland Security Council at the counterterrorism center were aimed at making U.S. anti-terror tactics more “nimble, creative and ever-vigilant.”
In the wake of the foiled British terror plot, the issue of homeland security has taken center stage on the campaign trail for the midterm congressional elections this November.
The Republicans have lashed Democrats for being weak on security, while Democrats have countered that the GOP is fear-mongering.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security reassured airline travelers that X-raying shoes at security checkpoints was a reliable way of detecting weapons and explosive devices, after an internal report claimed that the X-rays could not detect explosives.