Thomas Friedman talking sense about the latest security nonsense from Dubya & Co
“NYT” op-ed piece.

May 22, 2002

Cool It! By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Ah, excuse me, but could we all just calm down here?

What started as a story about how the Bush team handled unspecific warnings about possible terrorist attacks in the U.S. before 9/11 has now prompted the Bushies not only to defend themselves from charges of irresponsibility — which they are entitled to do — but to go on a Chicken Little warnings binge that another attack is imminent, inevitable and around the corner, but we can’t tell you when, where or how.

Look, in the wake of 9/11, I would never rule out any kind of attack. That would be foolhardy. But I’m no more interested in indicting the Bush team for failing to respond to an unspecific warning about a possible terrorist attack before 9/11 than I’m interested in having the vice president and F.B.I. director warn us about the certainty of an unspecified attack sometime in the future…