Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune that he has a "gut feeling" that the US has entered into a new period of increased risk of terrorism.

Let me get this straight - Chertoff has a "gut feeling" that the US is on the verge of another terrorism attack.

I'm getting a gut feeling that this is a impending Wag the Dog operation as Bush continues to feel the increasing public scorn for his commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence, the mounting public opinion against the war, the plummeting Bush-Cheney public approval ratings, the defection of Republican senators from the "all war, all the time" Bush war agenda, the backlash from claiming executive privilege for the RNC emails originating in the White House, the White House refusal to allow aides to testify before congress, the burgeoning congressional investigations...those are just a few of the high points from which it's important to distract the public's attention.

But there's more, and even more reason to be concerned about the Bush administration's handling of national security. ABCNews is reporting that an alQaeda cell is either in or en route to the US.

Bush doesn't want to offend our ally, Pakistan's Musharraf, where the US has provided $10 billion in aid since 911, but of which less than 1/10 - $900 million, has actually gone for the country's development, according to a report issued by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. According to the report's author, Frederic Grare, "The question is the extent to which this money has effectively increased U.S. and international security," the report said.

Aside from the fiscal accountability issue, and the fact that the hefty funding hasn't improved the existence of the populace of an underdeveloped country while precariously propping up a military dictatorship (Musharraf never renounced his role as Chief of the Army Staff, contrary to Pakistan's constitution), the American taxpayers' money also hasn't bought much consideration from the Pakistani president, either.

The serious impacts of the policy of accommodation practiced by Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf toward the Taliban and its extremist supporters in Pakistan have been dramatized by the clashes between security forces and Islamic extremists at the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) in Islamabad.

That crisis came only a few days after a report in the New York Times on June 28 that the Pakistani Interior Ministry had warned Musharraf earlier in June that a "general policy of appeasement towards the Taliban" had "further emboldened" the Islamic extremist forces.

But despite these indications that the news from Pakistan is likely to shed a harsh light on its Pakistan policy, the Bush administration has continued to offer unqualified endorsement of Musharraf's policy toward terrorism. Efforts by journalists to elicit an expression of concern about the implications of the violence in Islamabad from State Department spokesman Sean McCormack produced only reassuring phrases that there is "still a lot more to do" in regard to Islamic extremists in Pakistan and that "we support [Musharraf] in those efforts".

The Bush administration knows that Musharraf has been playing a double game over al-Qaeda and Taliban networks. Four months earlier, it had tried to exert quiet pressure on Musharraf over the issue, but had also continued its policy of portraying Musharraf as a loyal ally in the "war against terror", even after he signaled his rejection of any pressure.

Vice President Dick Cheney visited Islamabad in late February, accompanied by Stephen R Kappes, deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), when unnamed US officials told the Washington Post that there was evidence al-Qaeda operatives in camps in Pakistan had resumed training of foreign jihadis. Just hours after Cheney had reportedly delivered a warning that aid would be cut by the US Congress if something was not done, the Musharraf government issued a statement insisting that "Pakistan does not accept dictation from any side or any source"....

Musharraf's failure to act against religious extremists and their madrassas is widely understood to be part of a fundamental strategy by the military regime of using political parties that embrace extreme Islamic ideology as a political base of support for the military dictatorship to ensure against the return of democratic forces seeking to reverse Musharraf's 1999 coup.

There's evidence to suggest that Musharraf's government has negotiated with and harbored terrorists.

The Musharraf government's deals with pro-Taliban groups in 2004 and 2006 in the border provinces of South and North Waziristan helped the Taliban generate increased manpower and logistics support for cross-border raids into Afghanistan by Taliban guerrillas based in those provinces.

According to a report by the International Crisis Group last December, after the September 2006 accord, the government "released militants, returned their weapons, disbanded security check posts and agreed to allow foreign terrorists to stay if they gave up violence". The new accommodation with the Taliban "facilitates the growth of militancy and attacks in Afghanistan by giving pro-Taliban elements a free hand to recruit, train and arm", the report said.

Bush maintains an irresponsible, reckless policy of not upholding his oath of office to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution by securing our national borders against illegal immigration using our existing laws, meanwhile funding massive amounts of federal aid to Pakistan where it is misappropriated - where Pakistan's actions actually support terrorist operations - and so is ineffective in enhancing our national and international security.

According to a House Committee on Homeland Security report:

During 2005, Border Patrol apprehended approximately 1.2 million illegal aliens; of those 165,000 were from countries other than Mexico. Of the non-Mexican aliens, approximately 650 were from special interest countries. Special interest countries are those “designated by the intelligence community as countries that could export
individuals that could bring harm to our country in the way of terrorism.”1...Federal law enforcement estimates that 10 percent to 30 percent of illegal aliens are actually apprehended...

Data indicates that there are hundreds of illegal aliens apprehended entering the United States each year who are from countries known to support and sponsor terrorism.

• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations have revealed that aliens were smuggled from the Middle East to staging areas in Central and South America, before being smuggled illegally into the United States.
• Members of Hezbollah have already entered the United States across the Southwest border.
• U.S. military and intelligence officials believe that Venezuela is emerging as a potential hub of terrorism in the Western Hemisphere. The Venezuelan government is issuing identity documents that could subsequently be used to obtain a U.S. visa and enter the country.

If the Border Patrol is only apprehending 10-30% of the illegal aliens, and 650 of those were from "special interest" countries, then not securing our nation's borders using existing laws is a dereliction of duty by Bush, as is not funding legislation passed to improve border security against illegal immigration.

After all, as Ronald Reagan said in his speech "Our Noble Vision: An Opportunity for All": "Democratic nations do not wage war on their neighbors. But make no mistake, those who would hang a "Do Not Disturb" sign on our shores, those who would weaken America or give Castro's terrorists free rein to bring violence closer and closer to our borders are doing no service to the cause of peace."

Our Constitution defines treason as: "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort."

Is Bush giving terrorists free rein to bring violence closer and closer to our borders?

And isn't that treason?