There is much in this world that baffles me… Can someone explain to me how it can be considered a valid criticism of the Homeland Security Department to have issued this particular Security Alert. It was precisely what MANY people have complained that previous alerts were not – it gave precise targets based upon real information.
Can anyone imagine the shrieking that would occur if no such alert were issued and some time in the near future, say mid-October, an attack or attacks were carried out on any of the listed targets? Would any of us want to be the government representative who stood up and said, “Well, the information in the documents and computers we got our hands on was as much as 3 years old, so we figured it was too dated to respond to” and then have some reported raise his hand and ask, “Wasn’t at least one of the documents updated as recently as January of this year? Isn’t it common practice for AQ to develope their plans over several years?”
This is classic “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” stuff here. When it first came out I was surprised by the specificity. I start wondering how long the plan has been compromised and are they releasing info now to try to flush someone or just to try and get AQ to abandon the plan and so on.
My wife remarked, “Wow, this is the best alert they’ve had so far. They should all be like this” and my daughter was happening by and remarked, “Wow, we actually know what needs to be guarded the most this time.” Two days later the people who issued the alert are being accused of nothing more than playing politics.
BTW, the idea that it was timed to overshadow Kerry’s campaign swing through North and West Osh just doesn’t seem to carry much weight. I’m becoming weary of these “did it for political advantage” charges.
I want a New Rule (this is the civilian version of “there ought to be a law) – anyone who is going to open their mouths and accuse someone of twisting some serious federal action for the petty purpose of “political gain” must first tell us what the purported gain will be. “Knocking John Kerry off the news” doesn’t cut it. Laci Peterson, Kobe Bryant, and Lori Hacking manage that just fine and did not need any help from Tom Ridge.
