Obama accused of exaggerating terror threat for political gain

October 9, 2010 By 322 Comments
Editor’s Note: Playing around with the terror threat level worked fairly well for the Bush Administration. Now Obama has discovered this handy little spanner in his executive public relations tool chest. Amazingly, many people still fall for this tired Orwellian school lunch time announcement prank. Part of our mission here at 21st Century Wire is to offer solutions, so we have devised a new system for the Obama Administration which we hope will help move things forward...  

The team at 21st Century Wire has put forward a new 'Terror Chart' which Washington may use in future.

 

Pakistani diplomat launches scathing attack on White House  European intelligence claims raised terror alerts ‘nonsensical’

By Simon Tisdall and Richard Norton-Taylor The Guardian Oct 8, 2010 A US terror alert issued this week about al-Qaida plots to attack targets in western Europe was politically motivated and not based on credible new information, senior Pakistani diplomats and European intelligence officials have told the Guardian. The non-specific US warning, which despite its vagueness led Britain, France and other countries to raise their overseas terror alert levels, was an attempt to justify a recent escalation in US drone and helicopter attacks inside Pakistan that have “set the country on fire”, said Wajid Shamsul Hasan, the high commissioner to Britain.  

French police carry out security checks at Gare du Nord following the US terror warnings (PHOTO: Franck Prevel/Getty Images)

  Hasan, a veteran diplomat who is close to Pakistan’s president, suggested the Obama administration was playing politics with the terror threat before next month’s midterm congressional elections, in which the Republicans are expected to make big gains. He also claimed President Obama was reacting to pressure to demonstrate that his Afghan war strategy and this year’s troop surge, which are unpopular with the American public, were necessary. “I will not deny the fact that there may be internal political dynamics, including the forthcoming midterm American elections. If the Americans have definite information about terrorists and al-Qaida people, we should be provided [with] that and we could go after them ourselves,” Hasan said. “Such reports are a mixture of frustrations, ineptitude and lack of appreciation of ground realities. Any attempt to infringe the sovereignty of Pakistan would not bring about stability in Afghanistan, which is presumably the primary objective of the American and Nato forces.” Dismissing claims of a developed, co-ordinated plot aimed at Britain, France and Germany, European intelligence officials also pointed the finger at the US, and specifically at the White House. “To stitch together [the terror plot claims] in a seamless narrative is nonsensical,” said one well-placed official. While Abdul Jabbar, a Briton, and others killed by an American drone strike on 8 September in North Waziristan, in Pakistan’s tribal areas, were heard discussing co-ordinated plots, including possible “commando-style” attacks on prominent buildings and tourist sites in European capitals, security and intelligence officials said the plots were nowhere near fruition. READ FULL ARTICLE HEREfacebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterest
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