Much of the information that led the authorities to raise the terror alert at several large financial institutions in the New York City and Washington areas was three or four years old, intelligence and law enforcement officials said on Monday. They reported that they had not yet found concrete evidence that a terror plot or preparatory surveillance operations were still under way.
[…]
“You could say that the bulk of this information is old, but we know that Al Qaeda collects, collects, collects until they’re comfortable,” said one senior government official. “Only then do they carry out an operation. And there are signs that some of this may have been updated or may be more recent.”
Frances Fragos Townsend, the White House homeland security adviser, said on Monday in an interview on PBS that surveillance reports, apparently collected by Qaeda operatives had been “gathered in 2000 and 2001.” But she added that information may have been updated as recently as January.
The comments of government officials on Monday seemed softer in tone than the warning issued the day before. On Sunday, officials were circumspect in discussing when the surveillance of the financial institutions had occurred, and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge cited the quantity of intelligence from “multiple reporting streams” that he said was “alarming in both the amount and specificity of the information.”
That tears it. The drama of that announcement yesterday was just short of “Run for your lives!” Ridge gave a Bush campaign speech in the middle of it. And, the information was gathered before 9/11, fergawdsake. Al Qaeda doesn’t have to attack, Bush is getting the same results all by himself.
I can’t believe that I still had some faith in the integrity of this government. Jesus H. Christ, you really cannot believe anything these people say. Nada.
Update: Atrios has Judy Botox reading the RNC talking points about Howard Dean’s totally off the wall suggestion that Ridge’s announcement was, shall we say, politically convenient. Maybe the hair-do just takes so long that she doesn’t have time to do anything but regurgitate Republican talking points. They make it so convenient, faxing it right to her in easy to read format and all. (And they’re so wickedly delicious.)
On the other hand, she’s been doing exactly the same thing for at least six years. But no matter how much she tries to be as “edgy” (read: wingnutty) as FOXNews they still beat her in the ratings. She’s a trooper, though. She won’t give up until she’s Neil Cavuto’s bitch.