Howard Dean | Terror Alerts - Substance or Politics? (must read)

[WilliamPitt]

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/081204X.shtml

Terror Alerts - Substance or Politics?
By Howard Dean
YubaNet.com

Wednesday 11 August 2004

Over the past week there has been a lot of controversy about whether President Bush is using the timing of terror alerts to bolster his re-election campaign. Terrorism is a very serious issue and I do not believe that the terror alerts are based solely on politics. However, I do have some concerns that the timing of this announcement seems to be based on an election strategy.


Let's look at the facts:

* Bush strategist Karl Rove told members of the Republican National Committee during a January 2002 speech that Republicans "can go to the country" on national security issues and invited his party to politicize the war in an election year. And according to The Associated Press, a White House strategy for the 2002 elections - formulated by top presidential advisors - advised Republican candidates to campaign with messages highlighting the war on terrorism.

* The Al Qaeda operative whose capture led to the release of information was captured on July 13, twenty days before President Bush's press conference. The bulk of the information received was over three years old, some was eight months old. Even if the computer discs were found a few days after the capture of the terrorist, that means that the administration either chose the timing of the release, presumably for political reasons, or they lacked the resources to process the information in a timely manner.

* The day after Ridge was accused of considering politics for the timing of the announcement, he suddenly claimed that it took them a long time to process and translate the information.

* The administration has denied that the Department of Homeland Security gets involved in politics. In fact, last year the Department of Homeland Security was reportedly used for political purposes when it attempted to track down the whereabouts of Texas lawmakers who left the state to foil a Republican attempt to gerrymander Texas congressional districts.

...more...

[oasis]

1. kick

[mzmolly]

2. Gotta love that Dean guy.

:kick:

[Jacobin]

3. Would be very interesting to see where we would be

if Howard Dean had not run for the nomination and gotten as far as he did.

We probably would have nominated Joe Lieberman, as the closest clone to LordGodBush the Almighty, who would have then tried to outdo each other on how many M.E. countries they would invade in the next four years.

[mzmolly]

7. LOL.

So true!

[Debi]

4. Dean woke us up....

And I hope Kerry uses him to keep us awake!

[Cha]

5. I'm with Dean on this one..

"Terror is one of the most serious short term problems America faces and along with the soaring deficits and the continuing degradation of our environment, it is one of our most serious long term problems. All of us want the President to succeed in fighting this incredible threat. I am one American who would like to see more substance and less politics in this fight, so I can look forward to a future filled with hope, not fear."

I also like that he brought up this..

" The administration has denied that the Department of Homeland Security gets involved in politics. In fact, last year the Department of Homeland Security was reportedly used for political purposes when it attempted to track down the whereabouts of Texas lawmakers who left the state to foil a Republican attempt to gerrymander Texas congressional districts"

Because I forgot all the freak about it!

[madfloridian]

6. I really like that part. It was terrible.

The party rather ignored the TX Dems I hear. I hope I am wrong on that. At the convention, I mean. They did a lot for us.

[mzmolly]

8. Dean is so on to these guys.

He just nails it time and time again.

[madfloridian]

9. Kick for a great column on an important topic.

:kick:

[bklyncowgirl]

10. Great article--missed one important point though

And that is that in the 20 days that the Pakistanis had him in custody, Kahn had flipped and was working for Pakistani and British intelligence to set up top Al Queda figures.

Bush and his cronies not only politicized this arrest, in their effort to justify the post convention terror alert, they leaked the identity of Mr. Kahn, thus forcing British and Pakistani officials to move prematurely to bust the terror cells, allowing important suspects to escape.

It's very clear to me that this administration cares far more for its own political fortunes than for the safety and security of our peoople and that of our allies.

[WilliamPitt]

11. .

[spooky3]

12. Go Dean! There is no reason why Ridge could not have said

at the time of the announcement how old the information was, so that the American people could judge for themselves with a more complete picture. He had the info at that time. The fact that this wasn't revealed until much later is very telling.

[WilliamPitt]

13. Kind of amazed I have to keep kicking this

[ScreamingMeemie]

14. Hey, cut me some slack. I'm in the middle of defending my right to breast

feed. ;) :hi:

[ScreamingMeemie]

15. I am tired of watching my neighbors plan their vacations, their very

lives on these threats. I am tired of being played like a tuba in this case. I am glad that someone is blowing a whistle.

Thanks for posting.

[janx]

16. I'll certainly give this one a kick.

.