The Billiken's Bluff

On Sunday Tom Ridge and The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)warned of potential terrorists attacks on the financial institutions in NYC, Newark, and Washington D.C. The national security level was also raised to ORANGE (the second highest level) for these three cities.

Two months ago I wrote a post expressing my concern that vague warnings from the DHS about possible attacks were not only unhelpful, but actually detrimental to the average citizen. In the above instance, John Ashcroft named specific terrorists at his press conference. He warned the public to be on the lookout for them. Now while that isn't my idea of the best way to catch a threat to national security, I can see the logic behind that. Maybe someone recognizes Fazul Abdullah Mohammed as living in the apartment next door neighbor and phones the authorities. Fine. But issuing a warning about potential attacks in three cities and then telling people to go about their business as usual hardly strikes me as a productive way of stopping terrorism. Although it does create a healthy amount of panic among the populous.

I know what your thinking- I'm always criticizing, but what would I do to improve the Bush Administration's policy on national security??? Well for starters I would have everyone in the DHS sit down for a screening of Men in Black, a film which very succinctly outlines how an effective government agency confronted with imminent danger should respond.



Two scenes in particular would be of particular relevance to the current state of the union-


KAY (Tommy Lee Jones)
Any given time, around fifteen hundred
landed aliens are on the planet, the
majority right here in Manhattan. Most
aliens are decent enough, just trying to
make a living.

JAY (Will Smith)
Cab drivers?

KAY (Tommy Lee Jones)
Not as many as you'd think. Humans, for the
most part, don't have a clue. Don't want
one, either. They're happy. They think
they've got a pretty good bead on things.

JAY (Will Smith)
Why the big secret? People are smart, they
can handle it.

KAY (Tommy Lee Jones)
A person is smart. People are dumb.
Everything they've ever "known" has been
proven to be wrong. A thousand years ago
everybody knew as a fact, that the earth
was the center of the universe. Five
hundred years ago, they knew it was flat.
Fifteen minutes ago, you knew we humans
were alone on it. Imagine what you'll know
tomorrow.


* * * *

KAY (Tommy Lee Jones)
We do not discharge our weapons in view of
the public.

JAY (Will Smith)
Can we drop the cover-up bullshit?! There's
an Alien Battle Cruiser that's gonna blow-up
the world if we don't...

KAY (Tommy Lee Jones)
There's always an Alien Battle Cruiser...or
a Korlian Death Ray, or...an intergalactic
plague about to wipe out life on this
planet, and the only thing that lets people
get on with their hopeful little lives is
that they don't know about it.


The point is that these near Armageddons, happen regularly, so not only would it be imprudent to inform the public every time the FBI, CIA, or Dept of Homeland security uncovers some piece of information outlining a proposed attack but it would in fact be detrimental to the public. And yet (here lies the crux of the matter) it would be very beneficial to the administration. I don't want to rehash material from Fahrenheit 911, and Orwellian conspiracy theory, but Bush has built his record in office around the idea that he is strong on terrorism and defense. He is a War president, and is banking in the fact that the country needs to be protected from the terrorist menace.



No where in any of the articles I read about this new code orange terror warning have I heard that the threat was targeted for a specific date. In today's NY Times, I read that they found information on Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan computer showing that Al Qaeda was looking into the logistics of attacking certain financial institutions in NYC, Newark, and D.C. I do not doubt this very well may be the case. But what good does it do to tell the public, particularly the employees who work in these areas, that they are at a greater risk this Monday than any other work day? How are they supposed to be more vigilant in guarding themselves against a terror attack. Are they supposed to bring their radiation suit to work? Strap on their gas mask? Or maybe something more along the lines of telling their family that they love them before leaving for work because it's a ORANGE terror level warning, and when its ORANGE you just never know...

Down on Wall St. today police are stopping all vehicles within a 5 block radius. There is an increase presence of armed law enforcement. Machine guns. Checkpoints. As unpleasant and inconvenient as this may be, these are more effective means of stopping a suicide bomber, than creating public hysteria on a Sunday afternoon. So why then does Tom Ridge hold a press conference to announce that the terror warning has been raised to ORANGE?

I know what some will say- If the Bush administration was sitting on this information and failed to inform the public, and a terrorist attack actually took place, then Bush would be crucified for not disclosing this information to the public. But this isn't good enough. And if there is an attack despite Ridge's warning, Bush will still be criticized for not have done enough to prevent the attack. If the the "terror chatter" really was so profound and dangerous, why not close these financial institutions for the day? Which day? I don't know. Do they?

The Bush Administration likes to remind us that the war on terrorism will be on ongoing fight. As Tommy Lee Jones said, "There's always an Alien Battle Cruiser...or a Korlian Death Ray". The threat will always be there, so if that is the case why not focus on developing a more cohesive and efficient Dept. of Homeland Security, instead of relying on Color-Coded Terror Warnings and public hysteria. The important thing is that "We do not discharge our weapons in view of the public". I couldn't have said it better myself. "The only thing that lets people get on with their hopeful little lives is that they don't know about it." Tom Ridge would be wise to take a cue from Tommy Lee Jones. Be cool. And remember- Those who say don't know and those who know don't say.