Once again, Bush and his administration are resorting to “Duck & Cover” tactics to instill fear in the hearts of Americans while still imploring them to live life “normally.” And, as can be predicted, people are starting to create their own F.U.D. to fuel the bonfire that Bush has lit as the election draws near.
So now, even though the press claims that life goes on despite the current Orange Alert on financial centers, there is a subtext: people watching out, once again, for “suspicious activity.” Who needs big brother, when the neighbors will check to see if you’re acting suspiciously for Donald Rumsfeld?
Enter the mysterious case of missing fertilizer:
Nearly three tons of stolen ammonium nitrate are unaccounted for in North Carolina, even as the U.S. braces itself against a possible al Qaeda truck bomb attack.
Mixed with fuel oil, ammonium nitrate is a favored ingredient used in al Qaeda truck bombs. Nearly a month after the theft was reported, 59 bags of the volatile fertilizer are still unaccounted for.
Of course, the article later discloses how much fertilizer is in each missing bag, and when you do the math, it’s not three tons. More like 1.4. Still a sizeable amount, but I guess 3 tons will incite twice as much fear in readers as one and a half, or something like that.
Of course, the article virtually demands that we be fearful and vigilant. So why am I not worried? Well, for starters, while terrorists have used fertilizer for truck bombs in the past, you would think that security agents would know to look for that sort of thing by now. Do we expect that anyone would be able to nonchalantly drive a heaping truckload of wired, detonatable fertilizer near the World Bank anytime soon without someone questioning it? I certainly don’t. And I think al-Qaeda might be smart enough to know that a ton and a half of fertilizer would be too obvious a thing to bring in when bomb sniffing dogs are around. They knew this even before September 11, and they also know from their first attack on the World Trade Center, that while truck bombs work great against the relatively low-profile buildings of the middle east, they’re a bit hit or miss against urban structures. That’s probably why al-Qaeda’s plans for that day were a bit, well… creative. If they are in fact planning something soon, I would expect their M.O. to be equally, well… creative; something we haven’t yet thought of.
And besides, if we really ARE that stupid enough to miss someone hauling a truckload of stinking manure and detonation material this late in the game, then maybe we were asking for it.
Can you tell I have my doubts? I doubt the credibility of the Bush administration at a time when it wants to scare voters into re-electing it. I’m skeptical that they waited till after the Democratic convetion, but beforethe Republican convention to start beating the terror drums again. Almost as if to imply that al-Qaeda fears Bush but not Kerry, and a vote for Kerry is to side with al-Qaeda.
Or, maybe I’m just being paranoid. But then, isn’t paranoia (just aimed a little bit differently) the intent here?
To be perfectly honest, the next time I see some ass boost the Terror Alert Level, I fear I might start up with some more political smartassery of my own.
Your comments about the Bush administration as well as the voting for Kerry bit were nice–I wish I had thought of those…=P
And then again, we’ve got all kinds of people saying that Bush has Osama hidden away, captured already, with the intent of dragging out that victory in time for election. Bah, this is one Conservative that would be quite happy seeing anyone *but* Bush back in office. I’d almost be satisfied if another celebrity took up office. Almost. Ah, and excuse the rants–onezumi pointed me this way, and as a fellow journalist (a rather bad one, but a journalist no less) I figured I’d make comments…XD
At this point, nothing surprises me anymore. Who knows, maybe Bush *does* have Osama hidden away. At this point, he just strikes me as the kind of person who wants to be a hero badly, and if it can be done relatively close to the election, then all the better. Yet any self respecting eprson knows it’s not he, but his cabinet doing all the work. Some of it is good, a lot of it is bad, but they ARE doing the work for him.
Of course, being more of a liberal leaning myself (with a hard limit at the assedry that is Michael Moore), of course I’m going to criticize Bush. But I do fear any conservative who thinks that Bush has all his marbles and is 100% on the ball. Jsut not the case… and I think that’s really, really dangerous sometimes.
Oh, and update: the saber rattling rattling just got kicked up a notch becuase the chatter among terrorists has slowed, and the powers that be think that means a plot is imminent. So, stay tuned and brace for panic, I guess…
Oh, and thanks for the comments! It’s good to know people are actually looking at this stuff. 🙂 This whole site is really more of a work-related experiment where I just happen to rant and use up my free time, so it surprises me that so many people it seems like to check this place out.
Haha, no problem.
Actually, this article gave me a few ideas for writing a column about this whole terrorist fiasco. So, in truth, I should be thanking you.
Cool! have you got a website?
Oh duh, scratch that, it’s right there in the comments field, heh. 🙂 Cool!
Yeah.
It’s a site, but that’s about all I can say for it really. Feh, I don’t know, I’ve never really considered most if any of my endeavors all that fantastic. o_O
Regardless, quite the nice page you’ve got here. It’s like /., minus the fact it’s not submission-based. Or something. Haha, I’m rambling, which usually means I need a good cup of tea. XD
Cool! Well, consider yourself linked to this site. 🙂 I have your URI up on the friends section now.
Wow, thanks. You really shouldn’t pollute your links with stuff like that, but to thank you for your kindness I’ll add a link to your site.
Thanks again–I really appreciate it.