Terror scare for Kerry campaign Financial institutions in Washington DC and New York are on orange
alert, heavily armed police and checkpoints surround them, and
the evidence is growing that credible and detailed intelligence
about an al-Qaeda plot targeting specific US sites came from the counter-terrorist operations in Pakistan that netted Tanzanian al-Qaeda leader Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani. Perhaps even more important was the unannounced capture of al-Qaeda computer engineer Muhammad
Naeem Noor Khan, arrested July 13, who had helped develop the terrorist
network's electronic communications. US intelligence is understandably
tight-lipped, their Pakistani counterparts much less so (apparently),
and are saying that the material that was discovered was both alarming
and very valuable.
One senior American intelligence official said the information was
more detailed and precise than any he had seen during his 24-year
career in intelligence work. A second senior American official said it
had provided a new window into the methods, content and distribution of
Qaeda communications.
"This, for us, is a potential treasure trove," said a third senior
American official, an intelligence expert, at a briefing for reporters
on Sunday afternoon.
The documentary evidence, whose contents were reported urgently to
Washington on Friday afternoon, immediately elevated the significance
of other intelligence information gathered in recent weeks that had
already been regarded as highly troubling, senior American intelligence
officials said. Much of that information had come from Qaeda detainees
in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia as well as Pakistan, and some had also
pointed to a possible attack on financial institutions, senior American
intelligence officials said. So
far the war on terror. John Kerry is facing the uncomfortable reality
of fighting politically against the Commander in Chief while the
country is at war. His fight is legitimate, and the cornerstone of a
democracy, but at a time when every politcal development can sway
voters in either direction, the question will undoubtedly come into
every political mind: will this development help Bush or Kerry? And most people
will conclude that reminding the voters that the US is at war can only help the
incumbent. Then, the next question will arise in the suspicious mind:
could Bush and his allies have orchestrated a terror scare for
political gain? Any prudent and responsible politician will keep mum
about such thoughts. The homeland defence, after all, is paramount. The
terror threat is real, and no presidential campaign after 9/11-01 would
survive denying the mortal danger coming from Islamic terrorism. We
should at least hope this is the case, but Howard Dean is anything but
responsible these days.
"I am concerned that every time something happens that's not good
for President Bush, he plays this trump card, which is terrorism,"
Howard Dean, a former rival of Mr. Kerry for the Democratic nomination,
told Wolf Blitzer on CNN on Sunday. "His whole campaign is
based on the notion that 'I can keep you safe, therefore at times of
difficulty for America stick with me,' and then out comes Tom Ridge,"
Mr. Dean, the former Vermont governor, added, referring to the homeland
security secretary. "It's just impossible to know how much of this is
real and how much of this is politics, and I suspect there's some of
both in it." White House officials denied that suggestion, and
other Democrats and Mr. Kerry's advisers would not embrace it. "I
certainly hope not," Steve Elmendorf, Mr. Kerry's deputy campaign
manager, said. "You have to take them at their word." Elmendorf's
failure to distance himself from such a serious and outragous
allegation is not much less disgraceful than Dean's accusation Obviously,
such a serious charge should not be made without any serious evidence.
And of that, the Kerry campaign has none. Neither do the leftist
pundits who have thrown around the same accusations. All they can point
to is the "timing". Well, we can ask at precisely what time over the
last year could not the same thing be said? Remember, back in December
when Saddam was captured some leftists said exactly the same thing. This
smacks of the grand conspiracy theories so popular among wingnuts in
both camps, and it's absurd for the same reasons. How many people are
involved in these counter-terrorist operations? If these threats had
not existed at all, would not an absurd amount of people in the US and
abroad be part of the plot? Is it at all feasible that all of them are
supporters of Bush and, even more, that they would be willing to
defraud their country's democracy at the most fundamental level and
endanger its security? After all, it is not far fetched that al-Qaeda is hell-bent on hitting the United States shortly before the election. Update: Winds of Change has this and much more detail. Update 2: Glenn Reynolds points to a great posting by Gregory Djerejian.
12:37:40 AM 
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