The Politics Behind the Terror Alert

[PSU84]

The fact that it was John Ashcroft rather than Tom Ridge who issued the latest terror alert underscores the rivalry between Justice and Homeland Security—and highlights the administration’s attempt to undermine John Kerry

By Eleanor Clift, Newsweek

6:12 p.m. ET May 28, 2004 - What was the subliminal message of John Ashcroft’s stepped-up terror warning earlier this week? It’s that if the terrorists want to disrupt the presidential election, that must mean they’re for Democratic candidate John Kerry. Think Madrid. The terrorist train bombings there in March were credited with ousting Spain’s pro-Bush conservative government and propelling the Socialists to power. But Kerry has done a good job in recent days of countering the notion that if he is elected president, America will go soft on terrorism.

The Massachusetts senator showed real strength this week in a speech in Seattle where he laid out his vision for national security. He said America was less safe because of Bush’s go-it-alone war, and that he would never send U.S. troops “to fight a war without a plan to win the peace.” Kerry was steadfast on Iraq, refusing to heed critics on the left who want a date set for U.S. withdrawal, and warning terrorists against harboring any illusions they can divide the country on the eve of an election. "If we can build on America's confidence and not their fears, we can win this thing," says a Democratic strategist. "It's a trust issue—it's the modern version of finger on the button." The latest CBS poll showed Kerry opening up an 8-point margin over Bush, rebutting critics who fret Kerry is overly cautious and should be surging because of Bush's world of woe.

<snip>

You don’t have to be ultra-cynical to suspect the timing of Ashcroft’s dire pronouncements. Bush is in a jam over Iraq, and the exit strategy is changing the subject, or at least broadening it from Iraq to the wider world of terror, where Bush clings to a narrow lead over Kerry in voter confidence. It’s fishy that police departments in the target cities of Los Angeles and New York weren’t notified and learned along with the public about the newest vague threats from television. This was hardly breaking news. Six of the seven names Ashcroft revealed as likely terrorists have been known to the FBI for months, some for as long as two and a half years.

more...
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5087576/site/newsweek/

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. Terror aletts have lost their cache

and the press is startign to revolt

I wish they did it two years ago, but hey better late than never

[aquart]

2. The Attorney General issued a bogus terror alert.

That's what happened. Let's be clear.

It isn't Kerry who looks bad here.

It's the pathetic amateurs running this country.

[Soup Bean]

3. I'm speechless. This from Eleanor Clift.

Corporate America is "done with him", to quote the President's mother, Barbara....

[maddezmom]

4. surprise, surprise...they are all jumping ship.

[Virginian]

5. No color change

Wasn't the dept of Homeland Security created to help the different agencies talk to one another? And now we have one more agency that isn't being kept in the loop?

The only thing Ridge has done is color code the terror status and he didn't even do that "Chromalogically". Green should absolutely be between blue and yellow.

We are supposed to be on a higher status but not Orange. I guess this is just a deeper shade of Yellow then.