By Mande Wilkes || The United States’ national security is under imminent threat, according to top intelligence officials, with an attack attempt “certain” within the next six months.
From the Wall Street Journal:
Al Qaeda remains a significant threat to the U.S., the officials said, and the group’s recent evolution in tactics includes dispatching individuals who can enter the U.S. without arousing suspicion, such as the man accused of attempting the Christmas Day attack.
Such tactics have created “a new degree of difficulty” for U.S. spies seeking to thwart the next attack, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Al Qaeda’s many affiliates are also of great concern to the spy agencies. The Yemeni affiliate, which is believed to have directed the attempted Christmas Day attack, will continue to attempt additional attacks on the U.S., Mr. Blair said.
So, basically, Muslim extremists pose a “certain” threat to the United States, a threat that could manifest itself at any given moment.
Hey, Mr. Top Ops Guys? That’s hardly news. Jihadism has, in fact, imminently threatened America for years. Seriously, it’s not like Al Qaeda has suddenly gotten really mad at the West, and super-motivated to do us harm.
So why the spastic headlines? Here’s what I think …
Somebody’s threatening America, alright – somebody other than Al Qaeda. U.S. intelligence officials, in an attempt to reengage the public’s fears, are deliberately hyping the threat of terrorism – a threat that’s neither new nor any more pressing than usual. By conspiring to freak out the public, officials get to centralize the issue of terrorism – conveniently shoving aside intractable economic woes.
Besides the primary purpose of distracting voters from the state of the economy, the government has an embedded, more insidious angle: A fearful populace is a faithful one, a compliant one.
By Liberty For Me February 4, 2010 at 1:06 pm
Exactly!!….Who do you think made that goofy Bin Laden global warming tape??…Please,are people really this stupid.?
By countryboy February 4, 2010 at 1:14 pm
You may be right, at least in part, about the administration trying to divert attention away from the economy, but check this:
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=123758
The explosives would be next to impossible to detect, but I do wonder how they would actually be detonated….
Was that what that photo yesterday was about? Some gal checking you for explosives?????
By Ducky February 4, 2010 at 1:19 pm
Rahm Emanuel said …
“Never let a serious crisis go to waste. What I mean by that is it’s an opportunity to do things you couldn’t do before.”
If there isn’t a crisis… Create one…
Nothing new…
By dirtbogger February 4, 2010 at 1:28 pm
God yes, yes you are getting it now. Look at how fast the Patriot act was thrown together, something like 1600 pages of liberty killing text that no one had time to read. People are too willing to give up liberty for safety. Once liberty is given up it is nearly impossible to get it back with out viloent revolution. A lot of us people know that 9-11 happened in order to get the people on board for an offensive war for oil and conquest, and at the same time out of fear of supposed terrorist we gave a president near dictoral power to wage war an take liberty.
By countryboy February 4, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Liberty, in regard to the Bin Laden tapes, I agree that it is possible they are fake and even possible they were made by a government agency. And it is possible UBL has long been dead. Lots of top people in Pakistan think so. There was a claim that some raghead attended a funeral for him, in (I think) the Tora Bora area. If that were the case, I would think we could find and excavate any remains and do DNA testing… if we wanted to of course.
By Barney February 4, 2010 at 3:54 pm
We have to be afraid of something. I used to have nightmares about the mushroom cloud from Iraq and Saddam’s remote controlled crop dusters dumping anthrax on my children in the backyard. Then i bought all that duct tape to wrap around my windows and doors to protect me against aerial poisons from terrorists.I gleefully take off my shoes and belt at the airport suspiciously fearful of everyone near me, including little old blue haired ladies, thinking they might have explosive shoes or underwear.
Don’t say I am acutely paranoid. I am main stream media informed.
By Garnet Spy February 4, 2010 at 4:08 pm
You KNEW I wouldn’t let this one pass, Will. It isn’t “U.S. intelligence officials” playing politics here. It may well be the administration, but, trust me, the two are NOT the same.
It would be irresponsible for the intelligence community to keep the potential for threats from the public. Certain parts of the threats, such as specifics on who and how MUST be withheld to better prosecute those attempts, but pretending there is no danger is, itself, dangerous.
By Mande February 4, 2010 at 6:24 pm
Garnet Spy -
Will and I are not, in point of fact, the same person. Hence that byline up there …
Just sayin’.
As for your comment about “pretending there is no danger,” well, that’s my very point. Over-emphasizing this particular threat mitigates the reality that there’s a perpetual, relentless threat to the U.S.
THAT itself is dangerous.
-Mande
By southernmapart February 4, 2010 at 6:59 pm
Key words: “conspiring to freak out the public”
By Old Bike Dude February 4, 2010 at 8:27 pm
Just how much of a badass do you have to be to curl up on a couch with another man? Was OBL really gay or just regular gay. Or was he gay-lite like Andre?
By Cooter Brown February 5, 2010 at 12:49 am
Some’un threatens Amerikan securitie (so dey seys) an’ th’ American gob’mint declares wahr on da Amerikan peoples. Predictable, folks.
By Another Opinion February 5, 2010 at 10:58 am
New boss same as the old boss…I hope they realize they aren’t fooling anyone.
By snoozer February 6, 2010 at 4:24 pm
wow, u idiots just wake up from a 9 year slumber? the only problem with your beyond obvious article is that when a republican made these exact same claims you ate it up like pablum and jumped on the pariotism bandwagon. i guess now that this charade is being run by the black democrat president, you find a reason to question it. which just proves that your intenions are completely insincere. Please dont pretend youre crusading for truth when all it is a transparent partisan political attack that sounds like it was plagiarised from the fox and friends morning show. WOW, the government is misleading the populace in regards to the “GWOT”?!? Theyre actualy trying to create a climate of fear so that they can do whatever they want? WHAT BRILLIANT INSIGHT!