Bending the Third Rail
Because We Should, We Can, We Do
Thursday, August 17, 2006
A Pattern?
Do you see a pattern here?
NBC News reported last week that British counterterrorism officials thought the apparent plane plot was farther off than U.S. officials asserted—reportedly some of the men didn't even have passports. Now an Associated Press update on the investigation mentions in passing that "two top Pakistani intelligence agents" said the would-be bombers were too "inexperienced" to carry out the plot.
Let's see.

1. Find a nutbar with a terra plan.

2. Follow him a short while to identify all his friends.

3. At a politically opportune moment, have a flashy arrest with equally flashing news releases.

4. Watch the media swallow the kool-aid, all ... the ... way ... down.

5. Reap the benefits politically.

6. Watch the media and public ignore the details later released that show the threat was not nearly what it was initially trumped up to be, usually reported on page A15 and not at all on the Tee Vee.

7. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I'm not saying there aren't real bad guys out there. But having a war on "terrorists" and trumpeting their investigations in the media is like a "war on murders" or a "war on criminals" with equally huge headlines daily. Nutbars who engage in these types of activities (including terror) are far more likely to be stupid bullshitters than real threats. Yes, there are rare occasions where that's not true and law enforcement needs to do it's job. But most of the time, it just simply doesn't warrant a lot of attention. Unless it's your only asset politically.
Written at 9:33 AM by Greyhair.
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