Tell me something I don't know
May. 20th, 2002 07:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khaosworksCheney: Attacks Almost a 'Certainty'
And of course any threat by Osama Bin Laden is to be taken seriously. The man is a psychopath with religion on his side and an army to rival the countless number of dumb henchmen in every super-villain's gang (but I digress). And of course we should be prepared. No, on second thought, we should bend over, flip up our skirts, yank down our underpants and say, "COME AND GET IT, BIG BOY!"
All this is misdirection, folks. In case anybody out there doesn't get it already, let me spell it out. What Cheney is really trying to do is to divert attention from the real issue - that the initial attacks succeeded because of a failure of imagination. No one believed that using planes as missiles was conceivable outside of a Tom Clancy novel, and that is why security measures never took that into account. Now that we know it is possible, we can take steps to address that issue.
However, that does not take away the initial truth - that it was a failure of security and a failure of imagination. At least Cheney has the balls to admit this - but at a time where he should exude quiet confidence and say that yes, Al-Qaeda will attack, but we're going to do our best to make sure he doesn't succeed, all he's doing - and I grant that maybe it's the media slant - is to scream, like Chicken Little, that the sky is falling when it's just the regular rain.
It's okay to be afraid - but there are levels of fear, and there are levels where it can go into paranoia. And when you think everyone's out to get you...
Well, the terrorists have already won. Sleep tight.
Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday he is almost certain that terrorists will attack the United States again. "It's not a matter of if, but when," he said.Believe me when I say to you, in all sincerity, that Cheney is saying abso-fucking-lutely nothing that is not obvious, and yet at the same time, is pounding people into a unnecessary frenzy. Of course Al-Qaeda is going to try again. Until every last member of the network is reduced to a pile of dust, they're going to still try, like the Black Knight, to bite our arms off. It's like saying, "The Palestinians are going to suicide bomb the Israelis", or "Roger Ebert is going to hate Episode III." It's not a matter of if, but when.
Cheney also acknowledged past failures in responding to signs of terrorism, but said he does not know if the Sept. 11 attacks could have been prevented "even if we had all those pieces together."
The vice president, in two talk show appearances, confirmed that U.S. intelligence is picking up hints that Osama bin Laden's terrorist network may be planning an attack. The information is vague, but should be taken seriously, he said.
"I think that the prospects of a future attack on the U.S. are almost a certainty," Cheney said on "Fox News Sunday." "It could happen tomorrow, it could happen next week, it could happen next year, but they will keep trying. And we have to be prepared."
And of course any threat by Osama Bin Laden is to be taken seriously. The man is a psychopath with religion on his side and an army to rival the countless number of dumb henchmen in every super-villain's gang (but I digress). And of course we should be prepared. No, on second thought, we should bend over, flip up our skirts, yank down our underpants and say, "COME AND GET IT, BIG BOY!"
All this is misdirection, folks. In case anybody out there doesn't get it already, let me spell it out. What Cheney is really trying to do is to divert attention from the real issue - that the initial attacks succeeded because of a failure of imagination. No one believed that using planes as missiles was conceivable outside of a Tom Clancy novel, and that is why security measures never took that into account. Now that we know it is possible, we can take steps to address that issue.
However, that does not take away the initial truth - that it was a failure of security and a failure of imagination. At least Cheney has the balls to admit this - but at a time where he should exude quiet confidence and say that yes, Al-Qaeda will attack, but we're going to do our best to make sure he doesn't succeed, all he's doing - and I grant that maybe it's the media slant - is to scream, like Chicken Little, that the sky is falling when it's just the regular rain.
It's okay to be afraid - but there are levels of fear, and there are levels where it can go into paranoia. And when you think everyone's out to get you...
Well, the terrorists have already won. Sleep tight.
