Afraid of ISIS? [View all]
A wee public service announcement for those who are feeling The Fear because some intelligence reports suggest ISIS is a direct threat to this country within our borders:
There is always intelligence that claims something here or there is a direct, dire threat. Intelligence organizations prepare three versions of these reports: Worst Case, Best Case and Middle Case. Depending on what they want to happen, they tailor the delivery and wording of their reports. That is old, old, old fact, and always political...with a dash of make-war-pay-my-friends thrown in for good measure all too often.
Case in point: There were intelligence reports that said Iraq had:
* 26,000 liters of anthrax
* 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin
* 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX gas
* Mobile biological weapons labs
* Chemical-bomb drones that could strike the US mainland
* Uranium from Niger for use in a "robust" nuclear weapons program
* Connections to al-Qaeda that led directly to the attacks of September 11
How'd that work out?
"I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again..."
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