It's the "new normal" start of the fall campaign season -- the heightened terror alert:
Government officials have been quietly stepping up counterterror efforts out of a growing concern that al Qaeda or similar organizations might try to capitalize on the spate of extremely high-profile events in the coming months, sources tell ABC News.
Security experts point to next month's Olympics as evidence that high-profile events attract threats of terrorism, like the one issued this past weekend by a Chinese Muslim minority group that warned of its intent to attack the Games.
Anti-terror officials in the U.S. cite this summer and fall's lineup of two major political parties' conventions, November's general election and months of transition into a new presidential administration as cause for heightened awareness and action.
This is what the Department of Homeland Security is quietly declaring a Period of Heightened Alert, or POHA, a time frame when terrorists may have more incentive to attack.
All snark aside, the government is right on this one -- certainly the Olympics have been a target for terrorism (in 1972 and again in 1996 -- remember Atlanta?) and so have the first year of new presidents, in 1993 and again in 2001. What's annoying is the way that the Bush administration politicized terror alerts leading up to the 2004 election. That makes it harder for people to take new terror alerts seriously -- even if there might be something to it.
Posted by Will Bunch @ 10:18 AM
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54 comments
RE: "Give away free concerts on the mall and just as many would show up as those that attended Backtrack Obama's free concert speech." As a matter of fact (which the so-called "mainstream" media did not report) is that there WAS a rock concert in progress when the Obamamessiah spoke in Germany. And most of the 200,000 or so German 20-somethings who were present were concertgoers. The actual attendance at the Obamamessiah speech was closer to 20,000. What media bias?
"EXCEPT FOR THE VERY RARE OCCASIONS WHEN THE HINDUS ACTUALLY STRIKE BACK WITH THEIR OWN ATTACKS. ...."----))) Good lord, what an ignoramus. Hindu/Muslim strife in India has been ongoing for decades. In 2000, Hindus killed 2000 Muslims in Gujarat - and the attacks were reported to be state sponsored. Muslims in India are categorically considered to be below the lowest Hindu "untouchables" in status. A Hindu-nationalist government held majority status in the government from 1998-2004. Hindu perpetrators of violence are routinely not prosecuted by government officals. And btw, Hindus in India also attack Christians. And no, sloboat, I am not justifying Islamic terrorism - just pointing out, once again, your twisting of facts to justify your rabid Islamophobia
"The targets seem to have nothing in common except that they are ordinary & brazenly easy to strike.”OF COURSE WHAT THESE BOMBINGS ALL HAVE IN COMMON IS THAT THEY ARE PERPETRATED BY MUSLIMS UPON HINDUS. ...---))) Indeed, a classic, sloboat. Let's try this again - I'll use ALL CAPS to help you out. "The TARGETS seem to have nothing in common...." TARGETS. THE TARGETS. TARGETS. "Of course what these BOMBINGS have in common" BOMBINGS. What these "BOMBINGS have in common." BOMBINGS. BOMBINGS. Whew!! What an idiot. Oh, wait. sorry. WHEW!!! WHAT AN IDIOT!!!!
No attacks since 9/11 on American soil. Why waste time trying to sneak terrorists into the USA when they can kill us on their own soil? Over 4,100 dead and counting. More terrorists than before 9/11. You repubs just love being scared. So much for the land of the free and the home of the brave. The repubs want the greatest nation on earth to be reduced to a bunch of simpering wimps.
"We have nothing to fear but fear itself!"-FDR.
"We have nothing to offer but fear itself!"-republicans.
NYT: BOMBINGS HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON “Terrorist Attacks Unsettling India, NEW DELHI — “Over the past several years, terrorist attacks in India have become an everyday presence in everyday places. The targets seem to have nothing in common except that they are ordinary & brazenly easy to strike. … Officials offered no further details about who was involved in the group or a possible motivation behind the bombings…”THIS IS HIGHLY LAUGHABLE EVEN BY THE STANDARDS OF THE NEW YORK TIMES.“Over the past several years, terrorist attacks in India have become an everyday presence in everyday places. The targets seem to have nothing in common except that they are ordinary & brazenly easy to strike.”OF COURSE WHAT THESE BOMBINGS ALL HAVE IN COMMON IS THAT THEY ARE PERPETRATED BY MUSLIMS UPON HINDUS. EXCEPT FOR THE VERY RARE OCCASIONS WHEN THE HINDUS ACTUALLY STRIKE BACK WITH THEIR OWN ATTACKS. & THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS. BUT ALL THIS IS MUCH TOO MYSTERIOUS FOR THE SOLONS AT THE NEW YORK TIMES.“Officials have said the attacks are attempts to provoke violence between Hindus & Muslims that have not succeeded so far.”ONCE AGAIN THE TIMES TROTS OUT THIS PREPOSTEROUS LINE. THESE ATTACKS ARE NOT “VIOLENCE,” BUT ONLY “ATTEMPTS TO PROVOKE VIOLENCE.” EVEN WHEN THEY GO ON TO ADMIT IN THE NEXT FEW PARAGRAPHS:“A report last year by the National Counterterrorism Center in Washington concluded that from January 2004 to March 2007, the death toll from terrorist attacks in India was 3,674, second only to that in Iraq during the same period.”AND YET THESE BOMBINGS IN INDIA ARE NOT “VIOLENCE,” WHILE ONLY SLIGHTLY MORE DEADLY TERRORIST ATTACKS ARE THE END OF THE WORLD IN IRAQ. AT LEAST ACCORDING TO THE NEW YORK TIMES.“Officials offered no further details about who was involved in the group or a possible motivation behind the bombings.”PERHAPS WE’LL NEVER KNOW. WELL, NOT IF THE NEW YORK TIMES HAS ITS WAY.
"The difference between McCain and Obama is that McCain, at his core, knows we need to fight the terrorists..." ----)))) Good point, Xi Jah. And of course, we all know that Obama, in his core, loves him some terrorists, and in contrast to McCain, wants all his friends and family to die in terrorist attacks.
Pagoda, has Bush or has he not given and pledged more money to fight AIDS than any other president?
"The difference between McCain and Obama is that McCain, at his core, knows we need to fight the terrorists..." . . . . . While Obama has already figured out how to do it. Yeah, I'd say there's quite a difference.
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Hey Dom- is that the best you can do? A snarky comment. Still waiting for your list.
Pagoda, GW Bush has given more money to the cause of fighting AIDS all over the world. Aren't you libs always screaming for that?
How easy it is to be a liberal. Now, any and all killings in the U.S. are labelled by our moonbat friends as "terrorist" acts, thereby negating the fact that we have successfuly been combating terrorism in America.
Please list all the major accomplishments from Bush and his team during the past 7.5 years. (if you use we were not attacked, also throw in UFOs didn't blow up the Whitehouse) If you can come up with some solid arguments, then go ahead and vote for McCain. Otherwise, the paranoid assumptions made about a potential Obama presidency seem hollow. McCain has said nothing that should convince anyone his policies will greatly differ from Bush.
"The left was so sure this war on Terror/ Iraq thing was going to work out for them. Now that it isn't..." --- While the whole "the left was so sure..." idea is silly to begin with, how exactly can you claim that the "Iraq thing" is not working out for the Dems? They got the Congress in 2006, and generally the public now feels it was a mistake and just wants the whole thing to be done. --- "everybody's raising the bar and trying to redefine what constitutes success." --- What do you mean 'redefine'? Success was never defined to begin with.
"Is this madman attacking a Tennessee church not considered a terror attack?" . . . . . Naw, he's just one of those bitter folk who cling to guns and religion.
Hope, Change, that's Backtrack Obama to a "T". D's keep "Hoping" he won't "Change" his positions again, but "Change it is". High Ho, High Ho, it off to the right we go.
While you small minded individuals, who try to make an argument that this is liberal rag, you fail to notice the lack of coverage of two articles being covered in other media.
The Hate Monger who shot up a liberal church and the sky rocketing deficit. Why are you wacko’s not commenting about this? Why is this paper not covering it? Could it be that these article do not shine a favorable light on the wingnuts?
Posted by Bender 12:10 PM, 07/28/2008
"Once we are 10-15 years out then we can celebrate what a great job we did defeating terrorism." With (you hope) President Obama getting all the credit, right? The left was so sure this war on Terror/ Iraq thing was going to work out for them. Now that it isn't, everybody's raising the bar and trying to redefine what constitutes success. Good luck with all that.
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John W. McSame? Did you come up with that yourself, Gibba?
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Well that explains Xi's tendencies.. people who can only understand simple bumper sticker arguments tend to be GOPs.
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Ok Xi I forgot you know it all. our military does demand a lot of oil. For the rest of us out here that know absolutley nothing about economics please explain the following based on republican thinking.
What would happen to gas prices, if the worlds only super power went war with a third world oil rich country (who happens to be the #2 oil exporting country in the world) and completely destroys all of there infostructure, supply chain, and oil fields? Some 6 years later that country is now the 15th largest exporting country in the world even though they still have proven reserve which put them at #2 in that category.
A) Gases prices double, then triple in the insuing years after the invasion. The invasion coupled with tax breaks for the wealthy create a huge deficiet in the US treasury, thus a weakened dollar. Throw in some creative specualtion practice by the people on wall street who or governement and you get the mess we are in now or to sum it up the worst President & VP duo in our history. O and dont forget about the increased violence and crime rate in american cities at a all time high. But that has nothing to do with unemployment b/c the unemployment statistics which are updated every quarter are never wrong and are still at record low numbers. Never mind the small details that they dont count you as unemployed if you no longer are elgible to receive an unemployment check.
b) the invasion would create jobs everywhere and a booming dollar. love for the president is at a all time high and those who thing hte economy is bad are just listening to hte media to much. This is the greatest president of all time.
c)
How will the John W. McSame administration tout it's record 482 BILIION deficit? Thanks for sticking it to America once again Mr. McBush.
pagoda: Give away free concerts on the mall and just as many would show up as those that attended Backtrack Obama's free concert speech. Kids aren't dumb, but don't particularly like to vote on election day. Backtrack can have all the German 20 somethings he wants on his side.
"legatus I'm not completely sure what point you're trying to make" I was just correcting the record.
Gee, BKLYNBOY, I have no idea why Obama would be on the defensive about his religion. You twit.
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200,000 people showed up in Berlin to hear Obama. How many people would have showed up to hear McCain? 200? I realize Republicans will try to paint this as "Obama is a European elitist out of touch with real America", but we are going to need those NATO troops as cannon fodder in wars we start, and not to mention, post 9/11 world support felt pretty nice. Too bad Bush killed the love in less than a year.
Let's not forget it was the same Republican Party under Reagan that illegally sold weapons to Iran. Talk about appeasement. lol. Everything they touch turns to sh*t. Time for a change!
If you were OBL, you wouldn't need to attack the US since 9/11. President Bush has given him everything he wanted, and more. I'll bet even Osama himself didn't think we'd be stupid enough to invade Iraq. What stands between Osama bin Laden and power? The United States. In particular, the same things the Russians tried so futilly to keep out of the USSR. The dream of opportunity, of wealth, of freedom. All we've done is make recruiting easier for Al Qaeda, and made resisting the fanatics and supporting the USA possible only for other tyrants. How about that impressive coalition of the willing we built in 2003?
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legatus I'm not completely sure what point you're trying to make.. just wanted to note that the attempted plane crash (actually in 1994) and OKC were domestic terror acts. There was also that guy who shot at the White House in 1994.
"It was 8 years between the attacks on the WTC..." While it may have been 8 years between attacks on the WTC, the US was directly attacked by terrorists almost annually in the 90's. There was the WTC bombing in '93, the attempted plane crash into the White House in '95, Oklahoma City bombing in '95, Khobar Towers in '96, Embassy bombing Tanzania in '98, Embassy bombing Kenya in '98, USS Cole bombing in '00.
Xi Jah shake your head in stupidity. Oil is the controlling factor. If it goes up, the commodities will follow. How do you get commodities? Metals are mined. Oil is used to power the equipment. Farms- same thing. oil is needed to produce large crops. Of course it is used to transport these goods. So wake up and smell the roses. So if the price to get the things out of the ground goes up so does the end cost. Throw in some loose FCC rules and a dash of no control on specualtion and you have.....Inflation in every commodity out there.
LJL: Good stuff. At least someone can remind the republicans what there champion has done for us these last 8 years, nothing! You did forget one major thing though.. Bush's economy has created the weakest dollar since the depression.
JMC - the whole MYTH that they are trying to attack us all the time is just that. They wait, and plot, and wait, and plot, and wait and plot. It was 8 years between the attacks on the WTC... Once we are 10-15 years out then we can celebrate what a great job we did defeating terrorism...
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"Apparently the first thing you forget as a republican is that correlation is not causality." Oh, and I'm sure we haven't been attacked here because Al Qaeda and the other jihadists just haven't been in the mood for 7 years. The left's denial is staggering.
What is the definition of a terror attack? Is this madman attacking a Tennessee church not considered a terror attack? If not, then Okalahoma City was not a terror attack!
"Let the Republicans feel scared. They surrendered to terrorism a long time ago."....Why doesnt the marginalized minoritiy realize, it wasnt the surge that improved conditions in Iraq, it was the reduction in negatively biased news stories from the likes of the NYT....All ya need is love, Hope, and Change!
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Democrats since 2000: whine whine whine whine whine whine whine whine whine whine whine whine whine whine. You had a chance to make a change in '04 and you trotted out John Kerry.
Let the Republicans feel scared. They surrendered to terrorism a long time ago.
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"Since 9/11 there has been no terrorist attacks on US soil.".......Um, wasn't BushCo in control before 9/11? As I remember it, they had plenty of warnings, including daily security briefings and alarming reports from FBI field agents about the soon-to-be terrorists efforts to learn to fly commercial aircraft (but not to land).....I think the better phrase is "there was no larger loss of life on US soil from terrorist attacks until the GOP controlled two of the three branches of government"......But hey, fear is all the GOP has. The economy? Nah, we had a surplus when Clinton left. The DOW went from 3400 to 10,300 under Clinton. Under BushCo? 10,300 to 11,280 (hard work for eight years......hard, hard work). Healthcare? Nah, more uninsured than ever. Housing? Well, we know where that went. Energy policy? Well, the plan cooked up in secret between Cheney and Big Oil seemed to work great......for big oil. Gas was $1.33 on 2/7/2000. Other than that, BushCo has been great!
"Since 9/11 there has been no terrorist attacks on US soil.".......Um, wasn't BushCo in control before 9/11? As I remember it, they had plenty of warnings, including daily security briefings and alarming reports from FBI field agents about the soon-to-be terrorists efforts to learn to fly commercial aircraft (but not to land).....I think the better phrase is "there was no larger loss of life on US soil from terrorist attacks until the GOP controlled two of the three branches of government"......But hey, fear is all the GOP has. The economy? Nah, we had a surplus when Clinton left. The DOW went from 3400 to 10,300 under Clinton. Under BushCo? 10,300 to 11,280 (hard work for eight years......hard, hard work). Healthcare? Nah, more uninsured than ever. Housing? Well, we know where that went. Energy policy? Well, the plan cooked up in secret between Cheney and Big Oil seemed to work great......for big oil. Gas was $1.33 on 2/7/2000. Other than that, BushCo has been great!
"Since 9/11 there has been no terrorist attacks on US soil."
Apparently the first thing you forget as a republican is that correlation is not causality.
Let's not forget that while Bin Laden and Al Queda planned 9/11, the Republican controlled Congress focused on Bill Clinton's consentual affair with an aide. And let us also forget that Bush did absolutely nothing to prevent 9/11 even when presented with information that AQ was determined to strike at America. Yes, George was busy chopping wood in Texas as AQ operatives implmented their devious plan. Bush is ultimately responsible for the 3,000+ p[eople who died on 9/11 and the 10's of thousands of Americans and Iraqis who have died in his failed Iraq war. People like last rerally scare me because they STILL think that Iran and AQ are the same....lol, stupid is as stupid does.
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"Since 9/11 there has been no terrorist attacks on US soil." -- GOPs love to claim this. And yet they also like to claim that there is eco-terrorism being committed by groups like ALF and ELF. You can't have it both ways.
thelastRepublicaninPhilly: Did you forget about the anthrax attacks? I know Republicans want to forget them but I know reality has a liberal bias.
Since 9/11 there has been no terrorist attacks on US soil. Thank you George W Bush. Remember this and remember it well; history will repeat itself and Al Qaeda will strike at us again shortly after the election to test our new president; hey it could even be a country like Iran that does something. If we listen to the wording of the liberals and say it's like a 3 bush term; the terrorist attack might actually be prevented. Or, at best McCain will have a solid response to whatever happens. Obama will put us back on September 10th stance and repeat the mistakes of Jimmy Carter. Never forget we are at war and we need a commander in chief.
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Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
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