You know what really, really irks me about the current terror alert?
The way the Bush administration constantly withholds information, spins, and dissembles.
The fact that the current terror alert stems from al Qaeda surveillance 4 years old is not as important as is the fact that the administration portrayed it as current, as if al Qaeda operatives were hanging around the World Bank last week snapping photos.
If Tom Ridge had simply said that they had just uncovered the information but that the terrorists had been casing these buildings since 2001, he would have both covered his ass and given the alert some context. After all, al Qaeda takes years to plan and execute their attacks, so the threat is still valid.
But by withholding this information, the administration has made yet another mistake, leading the public to dismiss the alert.
Why can’t they learn to just tell the truth — the whole truth?
