Just Kidding...

Ridge Says Bush Administration Faked Terror Threat Level
5/10/2005 11:21 PM
By Mimi Hall, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration periodically put the USA on high alert for terrorist attacks even though then-Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge argued there was only flimsy evidence to justify raising the threat level, Ridge now says.

Ridge, who resigned Feb. 1, said Tuesday that he often disagreed with administration officials who wanted to elevate the threat level to orange, or "high" risk of terrorist attack, but was overruled.

His comments at a Washington forum describe spirited debates over terrorist intelligence and provide rare insight into the inner workings of the nation's homeland security apparatus.

Ridge said he wanted to "debunk the myth" that his agency was responsible for repeatedly raising the alert under a color-coded system he unveiled in 2002.

Comment: Ok. So if Ridge and his agency i.e. Homeland (In)Security were not responsible for the decision to announce the unfounded terror alerts, then who was?

"More often than not we were the least inclined to raise it," Ridge told reporters. "Sometimes we disagreed with the intelligence assessment. Sometimes we thought even if the intelligence was good, you don't necessarily put the country on (alert). ... There were times when some people were really aggressive about raising it, and we said, 'For that?' "

Comment: Sound like he is implicating the "intelligence community", but...

The level is raised if a majority on the President's Homeland Security Advisory Council favors it and President Bush concurs. Among those on the council with Ridge were Attorney General John Ashcroft, FBI chief Robert Mueller, CIA director George Tenet, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Comment: So other than the head of the CIA and FBI, Rummy, Bush, Powell and Ashcroft were all involved in the decision to 'up' the fear factor. But, other than scaring he bejesus out of (or perhaps into) the citizenry in order to ensure their continuned compliance, what other reasons might Bush and Co have for putting the nation on "alert"?..

The threat level was last raised on a nationwide scale in December 2003, to orange from yellow — or "elevated" risk — where the alert level is now. In most cases, Ridge said Homeland Security officials didn't want to raise the level because they knew local governments and businesses would have to spend money putting temporary security upgrades in place.

Comment: Ah yes! How could we forget! Money of course!

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