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Threat Matrix

I really like the Threat Matrix, the new terrorism-related series on ABC. Being that it IS on ABC...I doubt this show will last long. They can never seem to keep good shows on the air over at ABC. Hopefully, this will be different. The show is about a team from The Dept. of Homeland Security...using flashy technology to track terrorists across the globe.

In the first episode, an asylum seeker in Asia has given the U.S. information about a cell of terrorists heading to the U.S. aboard a cargo shipping container. The episode itself starts out with a U.S. minuteman missile solo and a group of white "terrorists" stealing a warhead from the facility. Lots of tension in this scene, but we soon find out that they're from Homeland Security, sent on this mission to keep Washington on its toes.

Back to the terrorist cell...they track the guy-the asylum seeker calls it a cell, but it's only one koran-toting guy (so much for staying away from the muslim terrorist profile on tv, huh?) to South Dakota, then on to Chicago. There are a few twists along the way, and the writing is really nice...very nice direction as well- with many shots of satellites flying over the earth, giving the counter terrorism guys more information and more ways to get that info. In the end, a bomb plot at one of the Chicago trade floors is uncovered, and they have to find the guy (whom they have already ID'ed- so they think) before he detonates his bomb pack, blowing himself and an entire city block to smithereens.

I think this show, if given the right chance, could flourish. Many critics have already panned it, but I think it's smart storytelling, and in this new age of terrorism- a series about The Dept. of Homeland Security is fresh and relevant.

More nonsense from the democratics candidates...

Dem Hopefuls Get Foreign Policy Facts Wrong

Gephardt Has Facts Wrong On North Korean Threat, While Kerry Continues To Mislead On His Iraq Use Of Force Vote

GEPHARDT HAS FACTS WRONG ON NORTH KOREA

Gephardt Blames President Bush, Not Kim Jong Il, For Nuke Program

GEPHARDT: "My criticism is of what the administration did right after the president came into the presidency, because he said the arrangement or the contract that the Clinton administration had reached with North Korea was appeasement. ... [H]e put them in the Axis of Evil after 9/11, and then said the leader of North Korea was one of the worst leaders in the world. And so we kind of, by rhetoric, pulled away from an agreement that I thought was making some sense ... and I thought got us in a pretty good place."

FOX NEWS' BRIT HUME: "[D]idn't North Korea break that agreement?"

GEPHARDT: "North Korea did, after all these statements. ..." (Fox News' "Sunday," 9/14/03)

In Fact, North Korean Nuclear Program Began On Clinton's Watch

North Korea Confirmed Nuclear Program In October 2002. "An administration source said [Assistant Secretary of State James] Kelly ... raised with North Korea evidence that Pyongyang may have a uranium-enrichment program. The program, which the United States believes would only be used to develop a nuclear bomb, began under the Clinton administration, according to the official. Surprisingly, North Korea confirmed the allegation." (George Gedda, "North Korea Acknowledges Secret Weapons Program," The Associated Press, 10/16/02)

But Program Began In "Mid- Or Late-1990's." "If the North Korean assertions are true ... the government of Kim Jong Il began in the mid- or late-1990's a secret, parallel program to produce weapons-grade material from highly enriched uranium." (David E. Sanger, "North Korea Says It Has A Program On Nuclear Arms," The New York Times, 10/17/02)

Gephardt's Belief That 1994 Agreement Worked Is "Terribly Gullible." "The Clinton administration in 1994 signed an accord with Kim that provided North Korea energy assistance and--perhaps most galling to proliferation skeptics--the technology to build two nuclear power reactors. 'I think it was terribly gullible,' said David Kay, a former UN nuclear weapons inspector. 'They believed North Korea was rejoining the family of nations. They weren't interested in the other information.'" (Stephen J. Hedges, "Engaging N. Korea A Failure, Critics Say," Chicago Tribune, 10/18/02)

KERRY AGAIN CLAIMS VOTE WAS TO "THREATEN" SADDAM

Kerry Plays Revisionist Historian With His Vote

KERRY: "I know I voted the right way. It was the right thing to do to hold Saddam Hussein accountable and to have the threat of force, and to probably use it if we had to, but this president didn't do it right." (CBS' "Face The Nation," 9/14/03)

But Kerry's Vote Authorized Use Not Just Threat Of Force

Use Of Force Resolution Authorized President Bush "To Use The Armed Forces Of The United States As He Determines To Be Necessary And Appropriate" Against Iraq. (Public Law No. 107-243, Signed Into Law 10/16/02)

President Bush Obtained Unanimous United Nations Resolution Against Saddam Hussein's Regime, Which Pledged "Serious Consequences" Should Saddam Hussein Continue Violating UN Resolutions. (U.N.S.C. Res. 1441: Passed 15-0, 11/8/02)

In 2002 And 1998, Kerry Said Saddam Hussein's Threat Should Have Been Dealt With Earlier. "The threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real, but ... it is not new. ... The Senate worked to urge action in early 1998. I joined ... in a resolution urging the President to 'take all necessary and appropriate actions to respond to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end his weapons of mass destruction program.' That was 1998 that we thought we needed a more serious response. ... In fact, had we done so, President Bush could well have taken his office, backed by our sense of urgency about holding Saddam Hussein accountable and, with an international United Nations, backed a multilateral stamp of approval record on a clear demand for the disarmament of Saddam Hussein's Iraq. ... But the administration missed an opportunity 2 years ago and particularly a year ago after September 11." (Sen. John Kerry, Congressional Record, 10/9/02)

Posted by Josh at September 20, 2003 07:48 AM | TrackBack