Pure crap..

[thx1138]

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Report: Al Qaeda trying to sneak into U.S. Al Qaeda will try to tap its resources and capabilities in Iraq in its efforts to exact another terrorist attack on U.S. soil, according to a top government intelligence report released today.

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This report is puts it all together... "Al Qaeda", "Iraq", "terrorist attack", and the biggie "U.S. soil".

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Al Qaeda will try to tap its resources and capabilities in Iraq in its efforts to exact another terrorist attack on U.S. soil, according to a top government intelligence report released Tuesday. A police officer looks for suspicious vehicles earlier this month outside Dulles International Airport in Virginia. "In addition, we assess that its association with [al Qaeda in Iraq] helps al Qaeda to energize the broader Sunni extremist community, raise resources and to recruit and indoctrinate operatives, including for homeland attacks," states the declassified summary of the National Intelligence Estimate. Officials have expressed concern in the past that the Iraq war is providing a theater for al Qaeda to train insurgents and test the terror network's capabilities. The report also warns that al Qaeda is beefing up efforts to sneak operatives into the United States. "Although we have discovered only a handful of individuals in the United States with ties to al Qaeda senior leadership since 9/11, we judge that al Qaeda will intensify its efforts to put operatives here," states an NIE summary. "As a result, we judge that the United States currently is in a heightened threat environment," the summary states. The draft of the intelligence report expresses concern about the possibility of a growing number of extremists who may already be in the United States, two officials said last week. The report also said al Qaeda is still in pursuit of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. Don't Miss NIE's key judgments -- (PDF) U.S. fears al Qaeda sharpening focus Report: Al Qaeda upping efforts to infiltrate U.S. Al Qaeda up to pre-9/11 strength, report says Declassified portions of the completed NIE -- which represents the combined analyses of all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies -- was released Tuesday after the classified version was presented to Congress. Mike McConnell, director of national intelligence, gave President Bush a special briefing on the report Tuesday morning, a senior administration official said. In addition to concerns about al Qaeda in Iraq and the threat of an attack on the United States, the report also says that al Qaeda has set up a safe haven along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border from where the terror network's leaders can operate, several U.S. officials said. The NIE analysis also addresses al Qaeda's resurgence in the tribal areas of Pakistan, where President Pervez Musharraf last year gave primary responsibility for controlling the border areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan to tribal leaders. The United States considers Musharraf an ally in the fight against al Qaeda and has been reluctant to pressure him to do more to control the border areas, where authorities believe both al Qaeda and the Taliban, vanquished from Afghanistan, have regrouped. Musharraf repeatedly has said his government is working hard to curb terrorists and extremists in its territories

[The Decider]

Quote by: thx1138 Home. Your comments This report is puts it all together... "Al Qaeda", "Iraq", "terrorist attack", and the biggie "U.S. soil".

What evidence do you have against this latest NIE report other than the "pure crap" claim?

[Scribbler1]

Well, you have to admit it looks fishy for the administration to declassify and release this information at a time when support for this war is at an all-time low. And not just public support. The Republicans are starting to jump ship too.
And it's especially suspicious that this administration, when it refuses to release documents on the death of Pat Tillman is so quick to release what was classified information.

And you ALSO have to ask yourself, just what can the people DO with this information other than worry about it? It sounds like the same BS about fighting them there so we don't fight them here, and the "mushroom cloud" wake-up call. It is pretty obvious this is meant to scare us into thinking we'd better not mess with Bush's grand plan, because there is absolutely nothing we can do about it other than let fearless leader take care of us.

Since there is a good chance this was how he got reelected (Remember Cheney's "warning" about a Kerry win almost guaranteeing another terrorist attack?), why not go with what works? The idiot sheep bought it once before, so it makes sense another well-timed scare will get the same results.

[The Decider]

Quote by: Scribbler1 Well, you have to admit it looks fishy for the administration to declassify and release this information at a time when support for this war is at an all-time low. And not just public support. The Republicans are starting to jump ship too. And it's especially suspicious that this administration, when it refuses to release documents on the death of Pat Tillman is so quick to release what was classified information. And you ALSO have to ask yourself, just what can the people DO with this information other than worry about it? It sounds like the same BS about fighting them there so we don't fight them here, and the "mushroom cloud" wake-up call. It is pretty obvious this is meant to scare us into thinking we'd better not mess with Bush's grand plan, because there is absolutely nothing we can do about it other than let fearless leader take care of us. Since there is a good chance this was how he got reelected (Remember Cheney's "warning" about a Kerry win almost guaranteeing another terrorist attack?), why not go with what works? The idiot sheep bought it once before, so it makes sense another well-timed scare will get the same results.

Good points, but I'd like to see some evidence that public opinion in June-July 2007 is moving toward the president, especially since the actual attacks in London. What worked in 2004 hasn't worked this year....yet. We'll see. The wolf has cried wolf so many times over the past 6 years, I wonder how many sheep still believe him.

Again, I would like to see evidence in polls or anything that this NIE helps Bush at all. Other NIEs have actually blamed the Iraq War for worsening terrorism in the world. This latest one seems to confirm that assessment.

[Scribbler1]

Quote by: The Decider Good points, but I'd like to see some evidence that public opinion in June-July 2007 is moving toward the president, especially since the actual attacks in London. What worked in 2004 hasn't worked this year....yet. We'll see. The wolf has cried wolf so many times over the past 6 years, I wonder how many sheep still believe him.

Since I have known people who still believe Iraq was involved in 9/11 and that Bush has made Iraq a safer place for Iraqis to live, I'm of the opinion there are plenty of such sheep left.
Besides, you don't have to LIKE Bush, or even support him to be scared. This report does nothing BUT serve to scare people.

And as for the bombings and foiled attacks in the UK go, that is THERE and the frightened sheep are HERE. We don't worry about what doesn't seem to directly affect us.

Again, I would like to see evidence in polls or anything that this NIE helps Bush at all. Other NIEs have actually blamed the Iraq War for worsening terrorism in the world. This latest one seems to confirm that assessment.

Again, global terrorism doesn't make people uncomfortable as long as it stays in the REST of the globe.
As for it helping Bush, it seems like they had nothing to lose by releasing this information, so why not try it. Fear is a powerful motivator and that's all this does. Give it a little time for the fear to sink in. This is just the first inning, IMO.

[The Decider]

Quote by: Scribbler1 Since I have known people who still believe Iraq was involved in 9/11 and that Bush has made Iraq a safer place for Iraqis to live, I'm of the opinion there are plenty of such sheep left. Besides, you don't have to LIKE Bush, or even support him to be scared. This report does nothing BUT serve to scare people.

I understand your point, I'm just questioning how much play Bush will get from ramping up fear this time. He has no alternative, I agree--his options are stay the course in Iraq or stay the course in Iraq. Yet his poll numbers on national security--his trump suit until 2005--have consistently declined. The growing AQ threat worldwide and the worsening situation in Iraq don't spell success. Again, maybe I'm wrong and a new AQ attack is just what Bush needs to convince nervous Americans that he was right in Iraq and the war on terror. I think that ship left port long ago, but we'll see. Bush has to give it a try or do the unthinkable--capitulate to the Democratic Congress.

Quote by: Scribbler1 And as for the bombings and foiled attacks in the UK go, that is THERE and the frightened sheep are HERE. We don't worry about what doesn't seem to directly affect us.

Well, I live in Boston and recently visited Washington D.C. On the northeastern seaboard, building and airport security has rarely been higher. True, these are more liberal areas of the US, but the higher security status has not helped the president or his party. In New Hampshire, a state with one of the highest US approval ratings of the Iraq War in 2003, public opinion has swung the opposite way (about 65% against) despite all the recent terror warnings.

The question remains--will NIE warnings alone turn that political situation around or does Bush need something more tangible--like an AQ attack on airports or shipping inside America? I don't know. In the shortterm, maybe Bush needs another AQ attack. Or maybe another AQ attack after 6 years of expensive and deadly war in Iraq and Afghanistan will expose Bush for what he really is--the most incompetent president ever to serve in that position. I hope we don't test these theories in real life.

Quote by: Scribbler1 Fear is a powerful motivator and that's all this does. Give it a little time for the fear to sink in. This is just the first inning, IMO.

Actually, I think we're in the later innings of this ballgame. We've seen Bush's strategy for six long innings and, despite early successes, he has a weak bullpen. Nothing is certain, of course, but Bush and his co-managers Karl Rove and Dick Cheney need some timely hitting and a strong closer. Maybe the ace in the bullpen is Osama bin Laden?

[Clarence]

you know it is

[thx1138]

The question remains--will NIE warnings alone turn that political situation around or does Bush need something more tangible--like an AQ attack on airports or shipping inside America?

Ron Paul has warned about such an event in the near future.
Isn't funny how much Al Qaeda has helped Bush just when things start to get gloomy?
He must be really be thankful to them.

I'm sure the ISI and Al Qaeda agaents are working over time with the Iraq war losing support of the U.S. government.

[thx1138]

Quote by: The Decider What evidence do you have against this latest NIE report other than the "pure crap" claim?

The same "keywords" triggered to put the public in Pavlovian fear are even underlined as links in the article.

Terror Threat Against U.S. Said Serious

Why were Pavlov's findings given so much acknowledgment? Pavlov's description on how animals (and humans) can be trained to respond in a certain way to a particular stimulus drew tremendous interest from the time he first presented his results. His work paved the way for a new, more objective method of studying behavior. So-called Pavlovian training has been used in many fields, with anti-phobia treatment as but one example. An important principle in conditioned learning is that an established conditioned response (salivating in the case of the dogs) decreases in intensity if the conditioned stimulus (bell) is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus (food). This process is called extinction. In order to treat phobias evoked by certain environmental situations, such as heights or crowds, this phenomenon can be used. The patient is first taught a muscle relaxation technique. Then he or she is told , over a period of days, to imagine the fear-producing situation while trying to inhibit the anxiety by relaxation. At the end of the series, the strongest anxiety-provoking situation may be brought to mind without anxiety. This process is called systematic desensitization. Conditioning forms the basis of much of learned human behavior. Nowadays, this knowledge has also been exploited by commercial advertising. An effective commercial should be able to manipulate the response to a stimulus (like seeing a product's name) which initially does not provoke any feeling. The objective is to train people to make the "false" connection between positive emotions (e.g. happiness or feeling attractive) and the particular brand of consumer goods being advertised.