This blog and it's predecessor always have been very skeptical of terror alerts. So we've really appreciated Keith Olbermann's recent piece following their history and associations with politics--deftly assembled in response to the provocative comments evidently to be in the forthcoming Tom Ridge book. This really is a terrific 16-1/2 minute segment:
Judge the veracity of Ridge at the time for yourself. PBS News Hour, on 2/7/03, a Friday in early February and just two days after Colin Powell mocked up anthrax at the U.N.:
JOHN ASHCROFT: Recent reporting indicates an increased likelihood that al-Qaida may attempt to attack Americans in the United States and/or abroad, in or around the end of the Hajj, a Muslim religious period ending mid- February 2003. Recent intelligence reports suggest that al-Qaida leaders have emphasized planning for attacks on apartment buildings, hotels and other soft or lightly secured targets in the United States.
TOM RIDGE: As a result of the increase in the threat level, as a result of going from yellow to orange, "elevated" to "high," specific protective measures will be taken by all federal agencies both to reduce vulnerabilities and many of them actually will, we believe, serve as a deterrent. Increased security personnel at points of entry may in fact limit points of entry and exit; enhanced identification checks, restrictions to travel around federal facilities and airports, among the many augmented security measures that will be implemented.
Now, as the attorney general mentioned, for individual Americans, we ask you... we ask you to remain aware and remain alert. One of the thoughts that I would just simply share with you: It's probably not a bad idea to sit down and just arrange some kind of a contact plan, that if an event occurred, you want to make sure you can... the family wants to get in touch with one another.
PBS correspondent Eric Lichtblau then tells Ray Suarez, "No, not really," when asked, "Were the government officials involved in this briefing very specific about what people should be on the lookout for? What kind of attack do they want us to be worried about?"
A couple of days later, American families run for the closet to tape themselves in.
Robert Greenwald film to be shown at the PEACE & JUSTICE CENTER OF EASTERN MAINE 123 Park St. in Bangor, 7:00 p.m., SUNDAY SEPT. 20
Take a look at the people and environment of the country of Afghanistan. Does it resemble the threat President Obama outlined this week at the VFW Convention in Phoenix?
President Obama: As I said when I announced this strategy, there will be more difficult days ahead. The insurgency in Afghanistan didn't just happen overnight and we won't defeat it overnight. This will not be quick, nor easy. But we must never forget: This is not a war of choice. This is a war of necessity. Those who attacked America on 9/11 are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which al Qaeda would plot to kill more Americans. So this is not only a war worth fighting. This is a -- this is fundamental to the defense of our people.
Even a recent report in the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relation suggests strategies being employed in Afghanistan that would seem wildly to diverge from any purpose of rolling up purveyors of terror aimed at the U.S. It looks like he U.S. has taken a decision to fight using the dirtiest of tactics, according to a New York Timesstory last week on this report.
"We have a list of 367 'kill or capture' targets, including 50 nexus targets who link drugs and the insurgency," one of the generals told the committee staff. The generals were not identified in the Senate report, which was obtained by The New York Times. ... The Senate report found that American officials did not believe that Afghan drug money was fueling Al Qaeda, which instead relies on contributions from wealthy individuals and charities in Persian Gulf countries, as well as aid organizations working inside Afghanistan.
Evidently, the objective now is to have a drug war. I'd ask the same question suggested by in the Greenwald film: How are these terror tactics -- embrace of extrajudicial execution -- going to do anything but build up hatred of U.S. occupation? Stopping terrorism from Afghanistan has gotta be way down the list for being there, doesn't it?
Below is audio from my segment today on the upcoming commemoration broadcast on WERU Peacetime with Lee Whiting:
Here is a LINK where you can reach the Hiroshima program featuring the late Walter Cronkite mentioned in the segment. There you may listen to audio of his 3-minute commentary from this 2005 PRI special, Lessons from Hiroshima: 60 years later.
The Peace & Justice Center of Eastern Maine invites the public to participate in a free event commemorating the 64th anniversary of the two nuclear bombings of civilian populations. We will gather outside the Bangor Public Library in Peirce Park at noon Thursday August 6th. Below is a description of the event.
12:00 "Die-In" Peirce Park next to Bangor Public Library
Following readings about the day and a song by Marty Kelly, we will lie down to represent more than 100,000 killed in Hiroshima on Auust 6th 1945, more than 70,000 killed in Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945, and the tens of thousands who died of radiation poisoning in the weeks following, or were permanently maimed by the bombing.
12:30 Showing of slide show "Unforgettable Fire," Conference Room, Bangor Public Library
The die-in will be followed by a showing of slides of drawings by survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki entitled "Unforgettable Fire" in the conference room of the Bangor Public Library. The slide show was compiled with the help of the late University of Maine Professor of History, Howard Schonberger, during his 1975-76 Fullbright sabbatical to Japan. Ann Schonberger, his widow, will be present to share their experience of working with Japanese students at the World Friendship Center in Hiroshima to translate captions from the original work into English.
Maine Owl is a news, comment & nature photography blog. The Owl is proprietor. He is a long-time peace & justice activist now residing in the Bangor, Maine area. Ms. Owl occasionally blogs here as Tammy. Our team also is enhanced by Gerald, formerly of Turn Maine Blue and now of the smashing blog Dirigo Blue.
