We're All Gonna Die... or maybe just the lucky ones.

We're All Gonna Die
By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Columnist

Friday 13 July 2007

We are all wired into a survival trip now.

- Hunter S. Thompson

Who can forget the incredible scandal that erupted back in May of 2002? Around about the middle of that month, details began to emerge about the August 6, 2001 Presidential Daily Briefing that specifically warned Bush about Osama bin Laden's determination to strike the United States.

Wait. Actually, everyone forgot, because two days later, the Bush administration unleashed a blizzard of dire warnings about impending terrorist attacks. FBI Director Robert Mueller intoned such attacks were "inevitable," and the Department of Homeland Security announced the imminent, explosive destruction of all American railroads, along with the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty.

Who can forget the incredible scandal that erupted back in June of 2003? Over the course of two days, reports emerged about serious doubts held by the CIA regarding the credibility of the administration's claim Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger. On the heels of this, Congress unfurled its 9/11 report, which criticized all levels of the Bush administration for its performance before and during the attacks.

Wait. Actually, everyone forgot, because the Bush administration unleashed another blizzard of warnings about impending terrorist attacks. Specifically, the Department of Homeland Security warned terrorists were, once again, preparing to attack the United States with suicide missions using commercial airliners as bombs.

Who can forget the incredible scandal that erupted back in December of 2003? 9/11 Commission chairman Thomas Keane declared the attacks of 9/11 should have been prevented. The next day, a Federal appeals court ruled against the administration on the case of suspected terrorist Jose Padilla, stating Padilla could not be held indefinitely without being charged.

Wait. Actually, everyone forgot, because the Bush administration increased the terrorism threat level to Orange and claimed more suicide planes were about to come zooming out of the sky. Six international flights were diverted due to potential terrorist actions of some passengers who were later identified as an insurance salesman, an elderly Chinese woman and a five-year-old boy.

Who can forget the incredible scandal that erupted back in May of 2004? Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared on Meet the Press and stated the intelligence on Iraqi WMD he'd been given for his UN presentation had been "inaccurate and wrong and, in some cases, deliberately misleading." Horrifying new pictures of the torture, rape and murder of prisoners by Americans at Abu Ghraib prison became public. The American military accidentally bombed a wedding party in Iraq, killing 40 civilians.

Wait. Actually, everyone forgot, because FBI Director Mueller and Attorney General John Ashcroft announced they had reports from multiple sources of al Qaeda's "specific intention to hit the United States hard." The threat levels were not raised, but dire warnings of impending catastrophe were offered by the administration for the next several days.

The recipe is simple, like the directions on the back of a shampoo bottle. Damaging reports of Bush administration malfeasance emerge. Warnings of imminent terrorist-borne doom immediately follow, all spread far and wide by said Bush administration. Lather, rinse, repeat.

There are many more instances of this curious timing to be found, but apparently, no one in the administration is concerned this dubious pattern - spreading fear among the populace to change the subject, an act of terrorism itself - might start to wear thin.

Who is going to forget the incredible scandals of June and July of 2007? The Bush administration leaves Nixon in the dust by commuting the prison sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. This action strongly suggests the existence of a quid pro quo between Libby and Bush's people to cover up the criminal activities of powerful officials like Vice President Dick Cheney, who had recently claimed his office wasn't part of the executive branch to avoid handing papers over to the National Archives.

The administration deploys spurious claims of Executive Privilege to avoid subpoenas regarding the patently illegal NSA wiretapping of American citizens. That privilege is extended to deny Congressional access to Harriet Miers, former White House counsel, regarding the issue of fired US attorneys. Contempt charges are threatened against Miers, and the NSA subpoena stonewall comes closer to getting openly challenged in court. Alberto Gonzales is exposed as having lied to the Senate in his testimony about FBI abuses of the Patriot Act.

Few of the benchmarks for success in Iraq are met. Desperate to halt a tide of GOP defections from his Iraq policy, Bush again coughs up the totally discredited link between 9/11 and Iraq, saying, "The same people that attacked us on September the 11th is a crowd that is now bombing people, killing innocent men, women and children." The House again votes to withdraw American troops from Iraq. A new Harris poll on Bush's approval rating is published. The number reads 26 percent.

Wait.

Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff all but guarantees devastating new terror attacks against the United States this summer. He bases this warning on a "gut feeling." White House spokesman Tony Snow threatens that withdrawal from Iraq would bring terrorism "to a shopping mall near you."

Meanwhile, al Qaeda is alleged to be as secure in Pakistan and Afghanistan as they were before 9/11, yet no one in the administration connects this new security to the drain of resources happening in Iraq. Additionally, no one in the administration points out the fact that, if Chertoff's gut is indeed correct, and we are indeed attacked again, responsibility for that attack will fall upon those who manufactured war in Iraq. Never mind the fact that if an attack is allowed to happen, even a minor one, more of our constitutional rights and protections will be eviscerated by the very same people who failed to stop it again.

Will everyone forget about the scandals of June and July 2007 amid these deadly warnings of coming death?

Lather, rinse, repeat.

---

William Rivers Pitt is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author of two books: "War on Iraq: What Team Bush Doesn't Want You to Know" and "The Greatest Sedition Is Silence." His newest book, "House of Ill Repute: Reflections on War, Lies, and America's Ravaged Reputation," is now available from PoliPointPress.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. The Lantern has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is The Lantern endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

....And The Truth Shall Set Us Free

Chertoff gets grief over "gut remarks"

Before we condemn this man, whom I do not trust any further than I can throw him, we might want to consider that even bad people can sometimes try to do good.

Is he trying to warn us of a black ops attack; another false flag op?

There are some people who are awfully desperate, and we aren't taking about the very dead Osama.

U.S. security czar under fire for 'gut feeling' comment

Sheldon Alberts, CanWest News Service

Published: Wednesday, July 11, 2007

WASHINGTON -- Americans have spent almost six years now trying to figure out the Bush administration's colour-coded terrorist threat system.

Now they have another terror warning to puzzle over -- Michael Chertoff's "gut feeling."

The U.S. secretary for homeland security came under sharp criticism Wednesday after saying he had a hunch America would be the target of a major al-Qaeda attack this summer.

Remarks to the Chicago Tribune's editorial board, Chertoff said his assessment was based on past summertime terror plots, increased al-Qaeda training activities in south Asia, and a recent spike in public statements by Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's second-in-command.

"All of these things have given me a gut feeling that we are in a period of vulnerability," Chertoff said. "Not that I have a specific threat that I have right now but ... I want to be somewhat more vigilant."

President George W. Bush quickly distanced himself from Chertoff's remarks, with spokesman Tony Fratto saying "there continues to be no credible, specific intelligence to suggest that there is an imminent threat to the homeland."

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that the U.S. government has concluded al-Qaeda has rebuilt its operating strength to levels similar to those in 2001. Citing a new confidential threat assessment, the news service said the terrorist organization had regained capabilities despite American efforts to cripple it.

Counter-terrorism experts were baffled that Chertoff would be so flippant and unspecific with remarks about terrorist threats, in the wake of last month's botched bombing attacks in London.

Bruce Hoffman, a professor in security studies at Washington's Georgetown University, called Chertoff's remarks highly irresponsible because they provide Americans with no context to evaluate the seriousness of the threat.

"One would hope that six years after 9/11 -- and the creation of a new agency devoted to homeland security -- that the department's secretary would be able to provide something more empirical than just a gut feeling there may be an attack," Hoffman said. "We should be beyond gut feelings, and be capable of getting actual hard intelligence, if it exists."

Chertoff's comment "introduces more uncertainty than sound judgment and analysis" because it gives no information to local police forces or first responders about specific protective measures that should be taken, Hoffman added.

Representative Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House of Representatives homeland security committee, asked Chertoff to "clarify" his remarks and convene a classified meeting with congressional leaders to review intelligence.

"What colour code in the Homeland Security Advisory System is associated with a gut feeling?'" Thompson wrote in a letter to Chertoff. "What sectors should be on alert as a result of your gut feeling?' What cities should be asking their law enforcement to work double shifts because of your gut feeling?' Are the American people supposed to purchase duct tape and plastic sheeting because of your gut feeling?'"

After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. implemented a five-level colour-coded terror threat system, with green indicating the lowest risk and red representing a severe risk of attack. The government has not changed the nation's threat level - currently ranked as elevated, or yellow -- in the wake of Chertoff's comments. The threat also remains high, or orange, for domestic and international flights.

Experts are also puzzled by Chertoff's comment that "summertime seems to be appealing" for al-Qaeda plotters.

While the 9/11 attacks occurred in late summer and the London subway bombings in July, 2005, Hoffman said there is ample evidence that the threat from al-Qaida is a year-round phenomenon. He cited as evidence the Madrid bombings in March, 2004, and the Bali bombing in October, 2002.

"In my view, the way we have to be thinking is that this is a threat 12 months out of the year, not just the summer holidays," Hoffman said.

In the same remarks, Chertoff also rekindled American concerns about terrorists sneaking into the U.S. across the border from Canada. Echoing similar remarks he has made in the past, Chertoff said Bush administration plans to require passports or another secure travel document at the Canada-U.S. land border are vital to preventing the threat.

"All this seems reasonable, but all I have heard in the last six months are complaints about this," Chertoff said. "I have heard complaints about people from the northern border who say it is going to make it less convenient and that it is going to affect our business.

"I say, Well, what do think is going to happen to your business when a guy comes across the border with a phony document and blows up a target in Buffalo or in Detroit?'"

He added: "Do you think the American public is going to then allow the border to remain open or are they going to suddenly clamp down?"

Despite his concerns about security at the northern border, Chertoff's department was recently forced to push back the implementation of the passport requirement at least until mid-2008 because the State Department has been unable to meet the U.S. demand for passports.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. The Lantern has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is The Lantern endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

....And The Truth Shall Set Us Free

Tin Foil Hat Time! Necessary.

Regarding the post below:

W don't give a damn how crazy it sounds. If it has to do with the possibility of attacks on Americans we are gonna post it.

How crazy does it have to be, before it does not deserve consideration by U.S. citizens, given what we know to be true?


...And The Truth Shall Set Us Free