Haven't heard much from Attorney General Ashcroft lately--but his spin machine was at work today. He conducted a conference call with all 93 U.S. Attorneys last week, urging them to be vigilant because of pre-election day terror threats.

Ashcroft and Comey reiterated concerns that top U.S. officials have been voicing since the spring -- that al Qaeda may try to attack the United States in the run up to the November election. "Given that the intelligence was pegged to an attack between now and the election, the closer we get to the election, obviously the smaller the window gets and the greater our concern gets," said the official.

"We are engaged in a full-court press in every corner of the country to try to detect and disrupt the attack that we're worried about. And this is part of that -- enlisting the U.S. attorneys."

The official said Ashcroft was concerned that some prosecutors and law enforcement officials may have let their guard down because there had been so many terror alerts. "It was a pep talk," he said. "We're pushing energy into the system."

The calls for explanations from President Bush as to why Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, was denied entry to the U.S. and sent back to Britain are increasing. From the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Southern California.

Treating "mainstream and moderate Muslims like Yusuf Islam as if they are criminals or terrorists, without bringing charges or allowing due process, sends the message to the Islamic world that even those who seek peace and condemn terror are not fit to enter the United States.... We call on the Bush administration to explain why Yusuf Islam was barred from coming to this country, and whether other internationally respected Muslim travelers or scholars will face such treatment in the future."

Cat Stevens today called the deportation "ridiculous." Here's more:

Asked if he felt victimized, Stevens said: "Absolutely. But you know, for God's sake people make mistakes. I just hope they have made a big mistake. "I wasn't handcuffed or anything like that. They treated me very well. The one positive thing I can say is that a lot of security officers are very pleased because they got my autograph."

Bump and Update: Cat Stevens was deported today.

A leading Muslim group has called upon President Bush to explain the deportation.

At a news conference here Wednesday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations said, “Yusuf Islam is perhaps one of the most widely-known and respected personalities in the Muslim world. He has a long history of promoting peace and reconciliation and condemning terrorism....Treating mainstream and moderate Muslims like Yusuf Islam as if they are criminals or terrorists, without bringing charges or allowing for due process, sends the message to the Islamic world that even those who seek peace and condemn terror are not fit to enter the United States. We call on the Bush administration to explain why Yusuf Islam was barred from coming to this country and whether other internationally-respected Muslim travellers or scholars will face such treatment in the future.”

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Update to last night's post on the U.S. denying entry to musician and peace activist Cat Stevens, (Yusuf Islam) -- The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

[A] government official, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said Islam was placed on a watch list after multiple intelligence sources in recent weeks indicated the peace activist may have associations with potential terrorists.

[Note: See update below. Prof. Cole is referring to jury convictions --cases Ashcroft proved at trial.]

Law Professor and civil liberities expert David Cole has some astonishing news today. With the collapse of the Detroit terror convictions a few weeks ago, Ashcrofts record is one of zero terrorism convictions since 9/11.

Until that reversal, the Detroit case had marked the only terrorist conviction obtained from the Justice Department's detention of more than 5,000 foreign nationals in anti-terrorism sweeps since 9/11. So Ashcroft's record is 0 for 5,000. When the attorney general was locking these men up in the immediate wake of the attacks, he held almost daily press conferences to announce how many "suspected terrorists" had been detained. No press conference has been forthcoming to announce that exactly none of them have turned out to be actual terrorists.

Nor, have any higher-ups been convicted in the Abu Graib Iraqi prison abuse scandal. The Bush Administration has not appointed an independent commission to investigate the abuse:

It prefers to leave the investigation to the Justice Department and the Pentagon, the two entities that drafted secret legal memos defending torture.

The latest terror warning comes from anonymous Administration officials to the Washington Times. Al Qaeda is planning for a 'spectacular' attack between now and Inauguration Day. Bigger than September 11.

Thus, details of the possible attack remain murky, but analysts say it is planned to be bigger and deadlier than the September 11 attacks, which killed 3,000 people. Potential targets include the White House, Pentagon, U.S. Capitol and congressional buildings, as well as landmarks and business centers in New York, the officials said. The officials said that there is no specific information about targets.

Who's involved and what kind of attack is planned? Unnamed officials say:

Get ready for even greater security measures in October:

Convinced that al Qaeda is still determined to disrupt the U.S. fall elections by an attack on the homeland, FBI officials here are preparing a massive counter-offensive of interrogations, surveillance and possible detentions they hope will disrupt the terrorist plans, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart. FBI field offices and Homeland Security agencies will be advised of "extraordinary measures" that will go into place "beginning the first week of October through the elections."

...Specifically, the plan calls for "aggressive - even obvious - surveillance" techniques to be used on a short list of people suspected of being terrorist sympathizers, but who have not committed a crime. Other "persons of interest," including their family members, may also be brought in for questioning, one source said.

All recent truck thefts, chemical thefts and suspicious cargo truck rentals will also be reviewed as part of the plan. Mosques will be revisited and members asked whether they've observed any suspicious behavior.

[link via Jihadunspun]

Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) today called upon the Inspector General's office to conduct an investigation of Attorney General John Ashcroft's use of government funds to pay for his "Patriot Act" tour. American Progress Report has the details. His letter to Inspector General Glenn Fine begins:

I am writing to ask that the Office of the Inspector General investigate whether the Attorney General of the United States violated federal law by conducting public relations efforts to stem criticism of and generate support for the USA PATRIOT Act and the U.S. Department of Justice's enforcement of that law. I believe these efforts violated not only prohibitions on propaganda efforts by the Executive Branch but also the Anti-Lobbying Act.

For those of you who think this is an election ploy, think again. Democrats have been complaining about Ashcroft's use of public funds to go on tour to plug the Patriot Act since it began. Check out this 9/9/03 letter to the U.S. Comptroller General from Rep. Conyers and Sen. Leahy at the end of the tour requesting an accounting.

Here's another sign that Bush has not made any progress in the war on terror. According to a new survey, Amercians don't put much faith in the ability of the federal government to protect them from an attack.

Most Americans would not cooperate as officials expect during a terror incident such as a smallpox or dirty bomb attack, U.S. researchers say. An in-depth survey found that the people do not trust the federal government to take care of them during an attack, and would take many matters into their own hands -- endangering themselves and their families.

The Inspector General has launched an investigation into the bogus arrest of Portland lawyer Brandon Mayfield last August, purportedly based on a fingerprint the FBI said connected him to the Spain train bombings:

The Mayfield investigation is focusing on how the fingerprint error was made and also on a complaint by Mayfield that the "FBI inappropriately conducted a surreptitious search of his home ... potentially motivated by his Muslim faith and ties to the Muslim community," according to Fine's report. The Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility also is investigating the actions of prosecutors in the Mayfield case.

The inspector general's investigation was disclosed in a twice-a-year report to Congress on potential civil rights and civil liberties abuses by Justice Department officials. A copy of the report was obtained by The Associated Press on Monday, a day ahead of its scheduled public release.

All of our Mayfield coverage is accessible here.

The last 368 Pakistani prisoners who were jailed 3 years ago for aiding the Taliban in its fight against the U.S. have been freed from jail in Afghanistan and returned home. Originally, there were 2,500 of them. They were kept in deplorable conditions. Many died.

Many of the prisoners originally were religious students who were sold by their "mullahs"--spiritual teachers--as
mujahideen (holy warriors) to the Taliban. Here is the story of 22 year old Amir Khan, as told to Reuters:

Former New York police commissioner Bernie Kerik just said on Fox News that al Qaida is as much a threat today as is was on September 10, 2001. So, Bush's terror war has not made us safe--only less free.

1,000 dead in Iraq to bring down Saddam who still has not been shown to be a imminent threat to the U.S. What might another President have accomplished in the past three years in the real war against terror...assuming he, unlike Bush, was not obsessed with Saddam.

If you think we should have pursued Osama, investigated the Saudi connection and other groups with demonstrated ties to al Qaida, you have a chance to do something about it in November. Vote to change our President.

Now it's not just Michael Moore alleging a White House cover-up of Saudi links to September 11:

Former Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Bob Graham accused the White House on Tuesday of covering up evidence that might have linked Saudi Arabia to the Sept. 11 hijackers. Graham's charges, made in a new book and at a news conference arranged by the John Kerry campaign, were rejected by Republicans as "bizarre conspiracy theories." The Saudis said Graham's claims were unsubstantiated and reckless.

Kerry has called for an independent investigation into the charges made by Graham, his former rival for the Democratic nomination.....Graham's statements support Kerry's claims that Bush is too close to the Saudi royal family and unwilling to pressure it to crack down on the financing of terrorists.

What about the 9/11 Commission report finding no evidence to support the claim that the Saudi Government financed al Qaida?

Graham said the commission "has given us its conclusions without giving us the facts upon which those conclusions were established."