Posted by
Daniel Miller on Saturday, July 14, 2007 10:39:54 AM
Watch closely, but no action.... A technique refined during the Clinton Administration.
From Scott Ott:
Bush: CIA Needs
More Money to Watch Qaeda Grow
Posted:
12 Jul 2007 07:37 AM CDT
(2007-07-12) — As details of a new top-secret threat assessment begin leaking to the media through the usual
intelligence community channels, President George Bush stands poised to ask
Congress for more funding to boost the CIA’s ability to watch al-Qaeda grow.
The unreleased National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) will show a
resurgent al Qaeda — with training facilities, money and communication abilities
not seen since 2001 — enjoying safe haven in the western tribal regions of
Pakistan, a U.S. ally.
While the president reportedly continues to respect the territorial integrity
of Pakistan’s terrorist havens, and has no plans to violate Pakistan’s
sovereignty with massive air strikes on al Qaeda training camps there, he will
urge Congress to “help me reduce the surprise factor of the inevitable attacks
on our soil by increasing our ability to observe the growth of our sworn
enemies.”
Meanwhile, an internal White House memorandum, leaked to The Washington Post,
suggests that the Bush administration abandon aggressive statements about the
so-called “war on terror” and instead borrow jargon from the National Weather
Service, referring to “terror watches” and “terror warnings”.
A “terror watch” would indicate a high probability of attack on U.S. soil,
while a “terror warning” means an attack has already happened and more might
come.
“Of course,” the White House memo says, “as with the violent weather watches
and warnings, citizens will simply have to hunker down and hope they don’t get
hurt. After all, like the weather, you can talk about terrorism and you can see
it coming from a distance, but ultimately, you can’t really do anything about
it.”