CBS Commentator Nancy Giles: Little Comfort in Foiled Terror Plot

This past Sunday, on CBS’s morning show Sunday Morning, Nancy Giles offered commentary on the foiled terror plot in London, and noted that she takes no comfort that this plot was foiled. Additionally, she used her segment to opine that news of the terror plot is just a "distraction" from what she considers more important issues, and offers scathing criticism of the Department of Homeland Security.

Giles began:

"Thank God for Scotland Yard and the people of Great Britain, because I feel more protected by them than the agencies here at home..."

Scotland Yard indeed deserves credit for infiltrating this terror cell and disrupting the plot to blow up airplanes bound for the United States. But what about foiled terror plots here at home? Or the fact that there has not been a terrorist attack here in the U.S. since the tragedy of September 11, 2001? Giles never mentions the U.S. successes in the war on terrorism. Given these facts, it would seem the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, the CIA and the entire intelligence community, and all others charged with protecting America from terrorism are doing a remarkable job in keeping us safe and are just as deserving of praise as Scotland Yard.

Giles then proceeded to accuse the Bush administration of "playing the threat level card" in order to distract Americans as she continued:

"...I have to say my next thought was, but is the U.S. playing the threat level card? What’s really going on that the administration wants to distract us from? What’s being shoved to the back pages so we can all focus on this and be terrified all over again? Is it that five years after September 11th, Osama bin Laden still hasn’t been caught?..."

Giles went on to offer more criticism for the Department of Homeland Security, referring to it as "bloated" and "incompetent," before claiming that the disruption of the terror plot has distracted Americans from the need to withdrawal from Iraq.

"Or would it be better to be terrified and not deal with the fact that Iraq is a mess, stuck in a violent and volatile civil war? And our troops are being used as referees. We’ve got to bring them home."

The disruption of the plot in London is a wake up call that we need to stay in Iraq as long as it takes to ensure there is a functional state, not a distraction on the need to bring the troops home. If we exit Iraq, allow it to become a failed state like Afghanistan was under the Taliban and allow Iraq to become a breeding ground for terrorists, not only will it destabilize the Middle East, it will pose a grave danger to America.

Giles concluded her commentary by stating that she takes little comfort in the foiled London terror plot:

"...And when you’re terrified, you can’t think straight. It’s important to pay attention to the bigger picture, and that’s why a foiled terrorist plot gives me so little comfort."

She has a point about keeping our eye on the bigger picture. The terror cell in London is one of many that hoped to do harm to America, and we must be ever vigilant in the fight against terrorism and never become complacent. But, it is comforting to know that antiterror units from around the world are having great success in foiling terrorism.