Comments on: U.K. Official: Don’t Exaggerate Terror

Ex-Intelligence Official Says Playing Up Al Qaeda Risks Inaction Against Other Threats

[iceman_1960]

"But the killer is this-- Bush actually flew bin Laden"s entire family out of the country at 911. Even the FBI raised its eyebrows at that one."
- Posted by alphaa10 at 02:23 PM : Dec 16, 2007

Snopes.com labels this "Flights of Fancy."

It"s false -- a very well circulated "Urban Legend."

Source:

http://www.snopes.com/rumors/flights.asp

[cyinzl8r]

If something does happen in this country the first thing you bashers will do is cry that Bush didn''t take the threat seriously. You twist everything into anti Bush propaganda. I hope you can live with yourselves when you realize that these Muslim thugs have had their way with you and have used you as a weapon against the government that seeks to protect you. Protection that you whine about today, but will ask why you weren''t protected if these killers come to our shores. Do you think it''s just good fortune that nothing has happened here yet? For all this administrations faults, we have not been attacked and that is not just good luck, but hard work. Everyone please have a Merry Christmas and for the good of our country, let''s all try to get along and work with what we have.

[mh4cbs1]

The whole IDEA is to hype the "terror threat". We need to address terrorism with intelligence sources and special operations. The cold war is over. The arms race is over. We Do NOT need to spend $686 BILLION next year on our War Machine!

But our corporate-owned government NEEDS the "War on Terror" hype in order to scare and convince Americans to part with their $686 BILLION next year. How else can they start their wars of conquest and occupation to expand the empire and steal natural resources like Middleast Oil?

As Eisenhower said many times, every dollar spent on the military represents a failure. It is inherently WASTED money - it contributes nothing to actually help our society or world.

[formrusmcsgt]

Bush loves to play into Al Qaeda''''s hands!

Posted by jh6379 at 04:55 PM : Dec 16, 2007

He''s played into the N. Korean''s and Iranian''s hands as well.

He tossed the Clinton deal with N. Korea and chose to call them names instead for 5 years. That got him squat.

To finally get a deal with them he had to give them the Clinton deal plus gravy on top for having been an idiot calling them names.

On Iran, he handed Iran what it could have never achieved were Saddam "The Gatekeeper" still in power - entree into Iraq to expand their sphere of influence. They''re still laughing up their sleeves at that one, no doubt....

[formrusmcsgt]

"What we shouldn''t do is play into al Qaeda''s hands by exaggerating the extent and nature of the threat they present globally," Mottram was quoted by The Observer newspaper as saying.

This reminds me of an interview I saw some time back with an al Qaeda member where he stated something to the effect of "all we have to do is tie a $.50 bandana around something and the U.S. will spend tens of thousainds of dollars patrolling the area with RPV''s and troops thinking it is a signal of some kind".

[samthetvcat]

"But don''t underplay terror either."
Posted by hypnotoad72

Yeah, that''s important. Although perhaps the tendency is to overplay it (?) Because of the language barrier, I guess we''re reliant on the media and the Department of Defense to tell us what other countries are thinking. Like they were making it sound like maybe Iran was a threat that couldn''t be stopped short of invasion. But then when it came out that Iran put their nuke program in a holding pattern after Shrub invaded Iraq because they were freaked out at the idea of him doing the same to them that totally changed everything.

Like the world seems to have gotten the message that 9/11 style attacks (assuming they''ve even got the logistics to accomplish such an attack) make us feel like guys like Bush are the solution = attack us and we unleash the psychotics.

Iran''s got that oil, but they don''t even have the capacity to refine it themselves - maybe we can offer to help them build a refinery there in exchange for a more solid pledge to can their nuke program or something like that . . .

I think we''ve got lots of other options for ''fighting'' terror smarter and more effectively than we have been with Bush in charge . . .

[hypnotoad72]

But don''t underplay terror either.

[abdoul_pasha]

How are you?

[j-whitman]

trillion1,,,, Hhow are bush and the right wing nuts going to keep that 20% of Americans scared? ----- We are being invaded by Canuk''s (Canadians)

[toolmangler-2009]

Good evening Abdoul_Pasha.

[cyberus-2009]

Much like a certain dictator in the past, using fear of "them" is step towards eliminating rights and liberties in the name of security, to protect us from "them", allowing the government more power to protect us from "them".

No better time to say this than now ...

"Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it"

[ontheleft]

Without a fear of al-Qaeda, there was no way we could have invaded Iraq (which did not support al-Qaeda) to lay claim to the oil. And at a cost of 2 trillion dollars and 4000 soldiers lives and counting.

We are no safer from an attack than we were before 9/11. Yet as shown recently by the Southern California wildfires, we can''t even adequately defend ourselves against homemade disasters never mind terrorist attacks.

The only things "safer" from terrorist attacks are the cows in North Dakota, who were provided with night vision goggles by Homeland Security at obscene prices thanks to the gullible taxpayers.

[hungry1968]

Bush used the 9/11 attacks as an excuse for everything that happened to this country for 6 years, and NOW someone is finally saying to "stop exaggerating terror"? Why didn''t someone tell Bush to stop it sooner, instead of using it as a crutch for a failed presidency?

Pathetic.

[abdoul_pasha]

Goodevening!

[trillion1]

But with-out the threat of terror how are bush and the right wing nuts going to keep that 20% of Americans scared?

[savdavid]

The MEDIA is almost as guilty as the administration in scaring the public. They don''t question the government or investigate claims. The media is too lazy and own by corporations who benefit from a government they kiss up to.

[j-whitman]

Obviously we screen people harder for a job at McDonald''s than we do for President of our country

[lorinkundert]

Terrorism is greatly exaggerated, it hasn''t changed in the last 50 years, we just happen to have the media grandstanding everything for the Government. It has always been known that a scared public is a compliant public.

[alphaa10-2009]

Bin Laden desperately wants the useful idiot, George Bush, to hold power as long as possible. How else would you explain how much al Qaeda has spread throughout the world since 2001?

Both Bush and bin Laden share a political interest in maintaining a climate of fear. Not surprisingly, both Bush and bin Laden families share financial assets with the Carlyle Group, with heavy investments in the US arms industries. In effect, every American bomb, bullet, tank, truck and aircraft pays not only Bush, but bin Laden a royalty.

But the killer is this-- Bush actually flew bin Laden''s entire family out of the country at 911. Even the FBI raised its eyebrows at that one.

Ever so conveniently, Bush has dropped the ball at each of his purported efforts to nail OBL since he took office, and somehow has botched not one, not two, but three set-piece engagements. (See Thomas Ricks, "Fiasco")

Whether Bush is merely incompetent or a traitor-- or both-- Bush is the ally bin Laden needs most.

[roach9703]

As to terrorism,what about China and Russia? Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Bolivia are essentially communist countries. China refused ports of call to the U.S. Navy. Tibet is being infiltrated by Moaist guerillas. The Vatican seems to be caving into Communist party government control of the Church in China.
In Russia the Non Governmental Organizations such as religious groups are being suppressed in Russia. Industries such as petrolium are being nationalized ( re-communized ) other manufacturers in Russia are being taken over by the government for "safety violations". Oh, and then we have deliberate Russian overflights in Alaska and Canada.
I think we better wake-up, hmmmmm.