28.10.04
Belfast Telegraph
Provo bomb quote tops poll in US
From Sean O'Driscoll in New York
27 October 2004
It has become one of the great clichés of the presidential election, yet nobody seems to know that they are quoting the IRA.
"Terrorists only have to be lucky once, we have to be lucky all the time."
It's a phrase the American public has heard so many times this year it's like an election year mantra.
It comes from the IRA's Brighton bombing statement 20 years ago this month, in which it lamented not killing Margaret Thatcher.
"Today we were unlucky, but remember we only have to be lucky once. You will have to be lucky always."
The phrase re-emerged on a huge scale after 9/11, as terrorism experts were drafted in to conference after conference to explain why America needed to be better prepared for terrorist attack.
It was gradually picked up by the Bush administration and spread across the political spectrum.
President Bush used it in the first debate with John Kerry, when advocated a renewal of the Patriot Act:
"The enemy only has to get lucky once, we must be right 100% of the time," he said, paraphrasing the IRA's spokesman, P O'Neill.
It is also a favourite of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who used it many, many times this year.
In February he admitted he had no idea where it came from.
"This is a poor quote from somebody, and I forgot who said it, but somebody once said that "a defender has to be right every time, and an attacker, a terrorist, only has to be lucky once in a while."
In early August, he told reporters covering a visit by the Danish defence minister that terrorists "only have to be lucky once or twice and they can kill 2,000 or 3,000 people. The defender has to be lucky all the time."
In early June, as keynote speaker at the International Institute for Strategic Studies' annual Pacific security conference, (known widely as the Shangri-La Conference), Mr Rumsfeld told delegates that constant vigilance was required whereas "a terrorist needs only to be lucky once or twice."
The phrase has also been all over Congress, each speaker presenting it like it was a unique insight.
Just last week, Michigan Republican congressman, Pete Hoekstra, urged the passing of the 9/11 Intelligence Reform Act:
"We have to be right 100% of the time when dealing with terrorists. They only have to be lucky once."
It's also a favourite of the acting CIA chief, John McLaughlin, who told CNN in July: "We can be excellent one thousand times, all they have to do is be lucky once."
Also getting an honorable mention is deputy attorney general, Larry D Thompson.
Speaking at Georgetown University's Conference on Security, Technology and Privacy in April 2003, he noted: "We have to be lucky every time to succeed. The terrorists only have to get lucky once."
International conferences have brought the phrase to an international audience of diplomats and security officials.
On September 9, Indonesia condemned the killing of eight people in a bomb blast outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta. Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said the attack was a reminder that constant vigilance was required.
"Terrorists only have to be lucky once. We have to be lucky all the time," he added.
Provo bomb quote tops poll in US
From Sean O'Driscoll in New York
27 October 2004
It has become one of the great clichés of the presidential election, yet nobody seems to know that they are quoting the IRA.
"Terrorists only have to be lucky once, we have to be lucky all the time."
It's a phrase the American public has heard so many times this year it's like an election year mantra.
It comes from the IRA's Brighton bombing statement 20 years ago this month, in which it lamented not killing Margaret Thatcher.
"Today we were unlucky, but remember we only have to be lucky once. You will have to be lucky always."
The phrase re-emerged on a huge scale after 9/11, as terrorism experts were drafted in to conference after conference to explain why America needed to be better prepared for terrorist attack.
It was gradually picked up by the Bush administration and spread across the political spectrum.
President Bush used it in the first debate with John Kerry, when advocated a renewal of the Patriot Act:
"The enemy only has to get lucky once, we must be right 100% of the time," he said, paraphrasing the IRA's spokesman, P O'Neill.
It is also a favourite of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who used it many, many times this year.
In February he admitted he had no idea where it came from.
"This is a poor quote from somebody, and I forgot who said it, but somebody once said that "a defender has to be right every time, and an attacker, a terrorist, only has to be lucky once in a while."
In early August, he told reporters covering a visit by the Danish defence minister that terrorists "only have to be lucky once or twice and they can kill 2,000 or 3,000 people. The defender has to be lucky all the time."
In early June, as keynote speaker at the International Institute for Strategic Studies' annual Pacific security conference, (known widely as the Shangri-La Conference), Mr Rumsfeld told delegates that constant vigilance was required whereas "a terrorist needs only to be lucky once or twice."
The phrase has also been all over Congress, each speaker presenting it like it was a unique insight.
Just last week, Michigan Republican congressman, Pete Hoekstra, urged the passing of the 9/11 Intelligence Reform Act:
"We have to be right 100% of the time when dealing with terrorists. They only have to be lucky once."
It's also a favourite of the acting CIA chief, John McLaughlin, who told CNN in July: "We can be excellent one thousand times, all they have to do is be lucky once."
Also getting an honorable mention is deputy attorney general, Larry D Thompson.
Speaking at Georgetown University's Conference on Security, Technology and Privacy in April 2003, he noted: "We have to be lucky every time to succeed. The terrorists only have to get lucky once."
International conferences have brought the phrase to an international audience of diplomats and security officials.
On September 9, Indonesia condemned the killing of eight people in a bomb blast outside the Australian embassy in Jakarta. Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said the attack was a reminder that constant vigilance was required.
"Terrorists only have to be lucky once. We have to be lucky all the time," he added.
