Timing Is Everything
Aug 13th, 2006 at 12:35 am by Susie
Sounds like those terror suspects, as I suspected, are merely big old props in the desperate GOP attempts to shore up their poll numbers before the midterm elections:
LONDON - NBC News has learned that U.S. and British authorities had a significant disagreement over when to move in on the suspects in the alleged plot to bring down trans-Atlantic airliners bound for the United States.
A senior British official knowledgeable about the case said British police were planning to continue to run surveillance for at least another week to try to obtain more evidence, while American officials pressured them to arrest the suspects sooner. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case.
In contrast to previous reports, the official suggested an attack was not imminent, saying the suspects had not yet purchased any airline tickets. In fact, some did not even have passports.
You see why I just ignore these sort of “breaking news”? Because both the U.S. and British leaders lie and spin so much, I’d rather wait until people start leaking the details of the real story.
The sad thing is, one day they may have a legitimate warning - and no one will take it seriously.
Dems assail GOP ?terror? fundraising
Democrats assailed the Republicans Friday for e-mailing a fundraising appeal mentioning the war on t
[...] Update: The All-Spin Zone, The Heretik, The Next Hurrah, Suburban Guerrilla, Sysyphus Shrugged and Brilliant at Breakfast, have more. See Memeorandom for a full list of blogs commenting on this story. share this post:social bookmarking icons [...]
Of course it’s planned; Lieberman tanks, can the House be far behind? They’re dragging out the same old terrorism crap that worked before. THEY can keep us safe from the terrorism that happened on THEIR watch. . . disgusting.
dalton
if this is to have been rushed for political gain, why not arrest before the connecticut primary?
No surprise here. Given the Bush Administration’s record and info coming from the British officials within hours of the arrest, it was a good guess that the stringent U.S. airport onboard baggage rules were being driven by politics, not real security needs. Concerning the CT primary and timing, the Bush Administration was undoubtedly pushing the British to make arrests in time for it, but the Brits weren’t being cooperative. Ultimately, it all turned on the arrest of that fellow in Pakistan, which the Brits opposed just yet. However, it looks like the U.S. went behind the their backs to enlist the Pakistan government and force the issue. The subsequent arrests in England were in effect something between a premature nab and a salvage operation.
Well, Daniel Rubin- it occurs to me that perhaps the government was pressuring the Brits to make the arrest before the Conn primary, but couldn’t get them to move fast enough.
Bureaucracies are like that especially when some parts don’t want to cooperate entirely- as this story claims.
Frankly- it seems that the timing was pretty bad for the GOP: too late to help in Conn and too early really for Nov.
But the really important question here is (in my mind): by blowing yet another surveillance opportunity, how much less safe has the Cheney administration left us?
Oops. Yes, what Roger said. Better than I.