CBS: Let's Blame America First

Given this CBS headline for the Miami port scare story, it's difficult to conclude CBS is doing anything other than appearing to blame America's Homeland Security professionals first.

Miami Port Scare 'Comedy Of Errors'
Security Scare Due To Miscommunication

Miscommunication? Perhaps, as the individuals in the vehicle apparently don't speak English very well. But with all the talk from Democrats on how our ports are so vulnerable, you'd think CBS could give the America bashing a rest and acknowledge that for better or worse, when concerns arose, all reports I've seen suggest the security professionals in charge acted appropriately.

Given the CBS headline, one wonders what constitutes a port threat gone right - one where some number of terrorists succeed in detonating a device? The only comedy here is the black comedy of CBS that, like some other MSM outlets, seems to want to downplay every potential terrorist incident within the United States.

A top federal official in Miami told WFOR-TV's Brian Andrews that the driver of a semi-truck attempting to make a delivery at the Port of Miami Sunday morning raised red flags when he was unable to satisfy security officials who questioned discrepancies between his manifest and his cargo.

The driver, who is of Iraqi nationality, apparently had difficulty communicating with the security at the port. As they looked more closely at the truck, the security guards found two other men in the truck, another Iraqi and a Lebanese national.

FBI spokeswoman Judy Orihuela said, "At some point he said he was alone," but officials now believe he may just have not been properly understood.

The men should not have been in the truck, so all three men were detained for questioning. They were never arrested, and after a day long scare at the port, which involved a bomb squad and hazardous materials examination of the truck, officials decided it was all a misunderstanding based on language and cultural differences, along with flawed paperwork.

All three men are legal residents of the United States.

The Miami Herald reported that 'suspicious' 55-gallon drums were found in the back of the truck, and that while the driver's paperwork claimed he was carrying auto parts, no such cargo was found on the truck, according to authorities. The drums and the discrepancy raised suspicions, and prompted the search.

Comments

[Devil's Advocate]

Poor Dan! He and his colleagues in the fetid swamp of the rightnuttosphere believe that there is a vast left-wing conspiracy among the domestic and international media against America.

If Dan had more than two brain cells to rub together, he would realize that he and the other members of the lynch mob are in a small minority. You, La Malkin, and the rest of the foaming-at-the-mouth kooks, have no credibility with anyone. You are wrong about everything, and proven wrong on a weekly basis.

[splashtc]

yeah right-nothing to see here folks - just move along. Not buying it.

[Buzzy]

Let's look at it this way. If this Iraqi is driving a tractor trailer he has to have a commercial license, yet he can't "make himself understood" to the point that the security personell think he's saying he's alone instead of "my two buddies are hiding in the sleeper". He also doesn't understand that when you go through a security checkpoint everyone in your vehicle is supposed to be visible, not hiding in the sleeper. One of the guys that's hiding in the sleeper doesn't even have papers on him, you can't get into the Port of Miami, or any other port in the US, without ID papers. Smells to high heavens of a "flying imam" caper to me. Maybe we need to take a good hard look at who Michigan is selling licenses to these days.

As for CBS, on one hand they bash the administration for lax security every chance they get but when DHS gets one right they scream incompetence. What they don't yet understand is that the American public, left, right, and center is beginning to view the network media as part of the problem as much as the Islamofascists. CBS's tricks have taken them from atop of the ratings to the very bottom. More people get their news these days from blogs than from CBS news.

[CS Lewis Jr.]

Are you people really this crazy or is Dan's comment section populated entirely by trolls? How do you work up the nerve to leave the house in the ... oh. Right.

[Phoenix]

Mr. Lewis,

What? You have two diverse views on this incident in the comments. Which view/views do you consider trollish?

[brad]

The point of terrorism is to terrorize, Danny. Helping the terrorists by overreacting to false alarms is counterproductive. And treating every police blotter item involving anyone from the middle east who isn't israeli as a potential terrorist matter only reveals the biases you'll never openly admit you harbor.
As for buzzy's flying imams reference, how stupid are you, boy? You still think there was something suspicious about that?
Here's a couple hints. First off, terrorists aren't going to announce their presence before a mission by doing something that would attrack attention. Like praying at the gate. Second, terrorists aren't going to be fat middle aged imams. Not the ones performing missions, at least. Were they being intentionally provocative dicks? Possibly, maybe even probably. But that ain't illegal. If it were, Limbaugh wouldn't be rich.

[Officious Pedant]

Danny, Danny, Danny. I know how hard you have to work to spin this stuff, but, jeez, maybe after the last couple of weeks you could take a break, huh? Or put more effort into it. I liked you better as the butt of the joke, where you at least made a distorted kind of sense. This Holiday rant, your total FUBAR on the Jamil Hussein story, among several others, and this little meltdown, just make you seem pathetic and rambling. But that "glad they did something" strawman is a masterwork of inanity. No one questioned the stoppage of the truck. We question a totally discredited right wing "citizen journalist" circle jerk when they go directly to terrorist attack without, making crap up as they go. That headline, for example.

Here, maybe you could find a link that shows that "Comedy of Errors" quote as the headline, and attributable to CBS, as opposed to a quote from an airport official. Try real hard, Danny, because your credibility and relevance are slipping away. Well, credibility, anyway, you weren't ever relevant.

Oh, and by the way, given that this is Miami, with a very high concentration of Spanish speakers, I think it quite profound of you to assert that the person having the language problem was the driver (since Florida only provides the test in English and Spanish). You wouldn't happen to know the name and background of the official who stopped the truck would you?

[coconuttree]

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- A judge Monday dropped all charges against three Middle Eastern men whose miscommunication with guards at the Port of Miami had sparked a terrorism scare.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/08/miami.port.ap/index.html

Maybe the guards at the port need some english lessons.