According to The New York Times, New York City has been the target of 14 terrorist plots since 9/11.
The New York Post, Daily News, Senator Chuck Schumer, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn have congratulated Police Commissioner Kelly for the superb job he has done, with the police officers of the NYPD, in protecting New York City. I want to add my voice in congratulating them and believe most of the residents of New York City do too.
The New York Times, in an editorial dated March 4, in effect takes the position that it is unacceptable for the NYPD to gather intelligence in the Muslim community here in New York City, other states and elsewhere in the world unless it is investigating a specific crime. The Times apparently doesn’t understand that there is a war going on, one declared by Islamic terrorists against the U.S., including U.S. civilians, as demonstrated, among other things, by the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993 and the destruction of both towers on 9/11/2001.
By condemning the NYPD for securing intelligence pursuant to the federal court-administered Handschu Agreement, the Times takes a position that endangers the lives of the eight million residents of New York City where Islamic terrorists have already succeeded in destroying two iconic buildings and ending thousands of lives. There are Islamist terrorists walking among us here in the cities of the U.S. The NYPD is doing its level best to find and arrest them before they do us great harm. The Times editorial will be used by Islamic terrorists and their supporters to weaken our resolve and defenses to terrorism.
If the NYPD’s critics believe the unlawful surveillance charges are well-founded, they should seek redress in a federal court and allow the court to decide whether the law enforcement agencies have violated the Handschu agreement. Making unsupported claims does nothing more than enrage the members of the Muslim-American community who are told they are being illegally surveilled or entrapped by U.S. law enforcement agencies, when that is not true.
We are very lucky to have Ray Kelly, a stand-up guy and great police commissioner, in charge of the NYPD. New York City is the prime target of the Islamic Jihadists and we are fortunate not to have suffered a successful terrorist attack since the catastrophe of 9/11 which was perpetrated by 19 Islamist terrorists. That safety record following 9/11 didn’t happen on its own.
Ed Koch served as mayor of New York from 1978 through 1989.
