http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/8799How The Bush Administration Uses Fear As A Political Tool
by Randolph T Holhut | Jul 18 2007
DUMMERSTON, Vt. — With public support for the Iraq war hovering around 30 percent, the Bush administration is falling back on a familiar strategy it loves to use when it find itself in trouble — scaring the American people.
On Tuesday, the National Intelligence Estimate, which reflects the consensus view of the 16 U.S. spy agencies, was released to the press. It states that al-Qaida is stepping up efforts to sneak terror operatives into the United States and has acquired most of the capabilities it needs to strike here.
President Bush immediately seized upon the report's findings as justification for the continued U.S. occupation of Iraq. Bush still believes that al-Qaida is responsible for the violence in Iraq, something that has been repeatedly proven false.
And, for good measure, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff chimed in last week, saying he had a "gut feeling" that another major terrorist attack was going to happen — even though he admitted that there was no specific threat to justify that statement.
The NIE was released the same day that the Senate planned an all-night session to force a vote on the Iraq war. Coincidence? Definitely not, especially when one remembers all the other times when terrorist threats conveniently materialized exactly when the administration needed a little distraction.
A couple of years ago, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann assembled a list of 10 instances when the timing of the government's terrorist alerts appeared to be more than a little suspicious. Let's take a walk down memory lane and examine them.
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