Much of the information that led the authorities to raise the terror alert at several large financial institutions in the New York City and Washington areas was three or four years old, intelligence and law enforcement officials said on Monday. They reported that they had not yet found concrete evidence that a terrorist plot or preparatory surveillance operations were still under way.
Well, duh. Al-Qaeda didn't begin planning for 9/11 attacks in May of 2001, either--there's evidence for a planning phase going back to 1995. Typically, the organization plans attacks for 3-5 years. As some nameless senior government official with a bag over his head remarked,
"You could say that the bulk of this information is old, but we know that Al Qaeda collects, collects, collects until they're comfortable [...] Only then do they carry out an operation."
Of course, some people either don't know that or don't care:
Former Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean on Sunday had suggested political motivations may be behind the latest terror alert. "I am concerned that every time something happens that's not good for President Bush, he plays this trump card, which is terrorism," Dean told CNN. "It's just impossible to know how much of this is real and how much of this is politics, and I suspect there's some of both in it."
We're all concerned about that. Because, you know, terrorism is always good for Bush, because he's all evil and whatnot, with the secret mihrab in the White House where he worships the god of his Saudi benefactors and the skillful manipulation of the national psyche by his corporate puppetmasters and the hey hey hey I'm selected.
Maybe Mr. Deeaarrrghn should look at why it might seem that terrorism is "good" for Bush: could it be because every time the reality of the threat shows itself, people are reminded about how little they actually trust John Kerry to make the right decisions about confronting it?
Having said that, Kerry gets a couple of points and maybe some Pez for the following:
Kerry dismissed former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's comment that raising the terror level might be politically motivated."I don't care what he said. I haven't suggested that and I won't suggest that," Kerry said. "I do not hold that opinion. I don't believe that.''
Which is big of him, especially now that he's got the nomination and people are paying attention.
Still: I'm not working in the city this week. Last night, that was because I was all IMMINENT THREAT-ed out. Today, it's because I'm nervous enough without more roadblocks and more guns carried by people who aren't me. I can do without a squirt of adrenaline every time there's a thump in the elevator shaft, thanks.
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[That doesn't mean I'm not at work, you sods...it just means I'm not at work in New York. Sheesh.]
