Amid Pakistani disaster, Bush Homeland Security advisor resigns  Homeland Security adviser to President George W. Bush Frances Townsend has resigned, following a report of her departure in Politico.
“It’s an important job and she was good at it,” an anonymous Bush official told the site. “She will stay until her successor is identified, which is immensely helpful.”
Her departure continues the exodus of top aides from the Administration.
Yet Townsend hasn't received rave reviews -- and particularly not in areas relevant to the current geopolitical climate in Pakistan. In July, Fox News host Christ Wallace tore into Townsend as to why the Administration had, in his estimate, allowed al Qaeda to resurge.
The July National Intelligence Estimate, released and compiled by the Administration's intelligence agencies, concluded "al Qaeda has rebuilt its operating capability to a level not seen since just before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks."
On the July 22 broadcast (VIDEO / TRANSCRIPT), Townsend initially answered that although al Qaeda may have regained strength, "we've also gotten stronger" and have "constrained al Qaeda's ability to attack." She stated that the only significant difference in al Qaeda's situation today from that a year or two ago is its ability to regroup in the tribal areas of Pakistan.
"Why aren't we doing everything we can ... to take out that safe haven?" Wallace insisted.
"Just because we don't speak about things publicly doesn't mean we're not doing many of the things you're talking about," said Townsend. "First and foremost, we're working with our Pakistani allies."
"Does Musharraf have the capability to take out that safe haven?" Wallace asked.
"Look at all the activity on the part of the Pakistani military since the seizure of the Red Mosque," Townsend remarked. "There's been numerous offensives."
"He clearly hasn't put a dent in their operations," Wallace replied.
Townsend then shifted to implying that al Qaeda does not have to be taken out immediately because it poses no immediate threat to the US. "The NIE is a strategic look about what the intelligence community's assessment is about the threat over the next three years," she said. "They point out that al Qaeda will be the principal threat to the US Homeland over the next three years and we need to take action against it. We're doing that with our Pakistani partners."
Wallace continued doggedly, "Why don't we take them out?"
"We are taking a whole series of actions using all instruments of national power," Townsend said. "We've got greater capability than we ever had in the history of this nation to take the most effective action."
"What the president cares about is US national interest," she continued. "That comes first. But we can't be successful in the global war on terrorism without our partners and allies around the world. That means we've got to be good partners and allies even when our partners aren't doing 100% of what we'd like them to do."
In September, veteran Daily News intelligence reporter James Meek took Townsend to task for alleging on the Sunday political talk circuit that Osama Bin Laden lives in a cave, when attempting to dismiss a new video from the Qaeda leader as an "empty threat."
Meek told RAW STORY that his intelligence sources say the popular image of a cornered, cave-bound Bin Laden is a myth. According to a September report, a dozen experts agreed that the top terror leader is more likely to be living in the relative comfort of a "cozy compound" than huddled in a mountainside cave network.
| 
del.icio.us .gif)
