Despite statements by senior al Qaeda leaders, U.S. intelligence agencies do not have information indicating the group is ready to conduct a major attack, U.S. counterterrorism officials said.
The audio and video statements appear to be part of a propaganda campaign by the terrorist group to bolster morale in its ranks, the officials said.
Right, so naturally, Bush follows bin Laden's example and sends on the propaganda to us. YAAAAY!
Thanks, Bush! Cheneyhead.
Come on, people. We don't buy this, do we? AQ is virtually powerless to hit any targets in the US and even if they could, America is a tough country! We can handle quite a few terrrorist attacks before we crumble into nothingness (at least a few!).
OH man, and I just stumbled across the below headline on News.Google.Com moments ago and did a screengrab:
MORE SCARE MONGERING!!! YAAAAAAAAY!
This is really getting ridiculous.
It's getting to the point--no it's already gotten to the point of McCarthyism--where they're literally trying to scare us of nothing.
In one breath they say "we've made progress against AQ!"
In the next breath they say "but they still want to kill you!!!"
Does anyone know who [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strauss%2C_Leo|Leo Strauss] was? He's a guy who theorized (and was not the first to do so) that in order to keep the human race in line big bad threats needed to be manufactured. If not, we all get decadent and undisciplined and society falls apart.
Yeah, a bunch humans huddled together in abject fear is better than everyone having sex and goofing off. Personally, I'd rather have the latter since we'll all live longer. However, there's no real proof that this theory is accurate because it's usually embraced by prudish control freaks like, well, like everyone in government these days.
While Straussianism isn't an organized religion or anything, he neo-cons are generally considered the closest thing to a Leo Strauss Club, filled with quite a few high-profile Straussketeers. The thing is, if you think about it, every religious figure could be described as Straussian, too--as an Atheist I don't believe in a "God" the way most religious people do and I have come to feel that like AQ, the Soviet Union, and Santa Claus, God was created to keep us in line. This is not to say the belief in God can't have positive effects, I just wonder if we couldn't have gotten them without the promise of heaven and the threat of hell.
Still, we're being lied to every day in regards to the threat of AQ. Straussianism is alive and well in Washington DC.
From WashingtonTimes.com:
U.S. agencies find no proof of looming al Qaeda attack
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published February 2, 2006
Despite statements by senior al Qaeda leaders, U.S. intelligence agencies do not have information indicating the group is ready to conduct a major attack, U.S. counterterrorism officials said.
The audio and video statements appear to be part of a propaganda campaign by the terrorist group to bolster morale in its ranks, the officials said.
Intelligence officials said al Qaeda has been damaged since the beginning of the global war on terrorism in 2001 but remains capable of a major attack.
John D. Negroponte, the director of national intelligence, and senior intelligence officials are scheduled to testify today before the Senate as part of an annual threat briefing. Mr. Negroponte will highlight the continuing but changing threat posed by al Qaeda, which U.S. intelligence officials regard as the most serious national security challenge to the nation.
However, there are no signs of an impending attack like the hijacked airline strikes on the Pentagon and World Trade Center that killed almost 3,000 people on September 11, 2001, the officials said.
The officials discussed, on the condition of anonymity, the analysis of an audio statement by Osama bin Laden and a subsequent video from his key deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri.
Bin Laden said in an audio message broadcast by Arab satellite television station Al Jazeera on Jan. 19 that an attack "is being prepared and you'll see it in your homeland very soon."
Eleven days later, al-Zawahri appeared in a videotaped message, also broadcast on Al Jazeera, saying that the "truce" offered by bin Laden had been rejected because of a Jan. 13 U.S. air strike that killed several top al Qaeda leaders but missed al-Zawahri.
Al-Zawahri said in the message Monday that al Qaeda would conduct further attacks on the United States.
A U.S. intelligence official said no hard intelligence relates to the al Qaeda statements and nothing indicates that the group is set to carry out an attack.
"Not every tape that comes out has been followed by an attack," the official said. "However, when they make these kinds of statements, you have to take them seriously."
This official said al Qaeda, and specifically its leadership, has been "damaged" by U.S. efforts, including the captures and killings of numerous top leaders.
"There has been a great erosion of the leadership, but al Qaeda does remain a danger and has [attack] capabilities," the official said.
The official noted that other groups that are "inspired" by al Qaeda have formed and may have "faint" ties or no links to "al Qaeda central" -- the group led by bin Laden and al-Zawahri.
A second official said bin Laden's offer of a truce and al-Zawahri's statements against U.S. leaders are part of "a propaganda ploy" designed to "buck up the morale of the rank and file" and prove they are still alive.
"It's also part of an effort to make the United States and Pakistan appear ineffective" in the war on terrorism, the official said.
Copyright © 2006 News World Communications, Inc.
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