Bush & Co. is Terrorizing US Citizens

The plot uncovered in Great Britain last week to use liquid explosives on planes bound for the United States was nowhere near a done deal. But it served the White House well in its scheme to scare Americans into voting Republican. At the moment the Brits were rounding up terrorists in cities in Great Britain on August 9th, Vice President Dick Cheney said, “In rejecting Mr. Lieberman, who supported the war in Iraq, the Democrats were encouraging ‘the Al Qaeda types’.” On August 10th White House officials admitted that the discovery of the British bombing plot would help the administration advance its eavesdropping agenda in Congress. Now we find out that the Bush administration demanded that the Brits round up the terrorists a week sooner than the Brits had planned. MSNBC reported yesterday that “A senior British official knowledgeable about the case said British police were planning to continue to run surveillance for at least another week to try to obtain more evidence, while American officials pressured them to arrest the suspects sooner. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case. In contrast to previous reports, the official suggested an attack was not imminent, saying the suspects had not yet purchased any airline tickets. In fact, some did not even have passports.” Quelle surprise! Once again, the Bush administration shows that its first goal is not to thwart terrorism, but rather to politicize a terrorist plot and use it to terrorize US citizens. And the ban on liquids and gels in carryon luggage is simply one more way to exploit the threat of terrorism. Using liquid explosives has been possible for decades. The Brits had begun an investigation into the most recent plotters shortly after the London subway bombings in July 2005. The possibility that liquid explosives would be employed was no more likely on August 9, 2006 than it had been on August 9, 2005, or than it will be on September 11, 2006, for that matter. But the ban and the news reports about a ban is as good as it gets as far as propaganda is concerned. The most recent terror plot was not toppled just before it was activated, as mainstream US media would have us believe. The terrorists were not on the threshold of putting the plot in action. The terrorists could have been arrested three weeks ago or next week. The issue that should concern Americans is that the Bush administration is willing to use the threat of terrorism as a political tool. Terrorism is a very real threat. Terrorists are plotting and scheming. But the folks inhabiting the White House are using terrorist threats in order to terrorize Americans, to gain more power and to stay in office. You can’t get more malevolent and foul than that.