interesting how there's a major terrorist threat just as the nsa is coming under scrutiny

[unblock]

on npr they were talking about the embassy closures "out of an abundance of caution" based on "intercepts" and "chatter" gathered from the nsa and other agencies through all this spying and sniffing and whatnot.

they particularly noticed that there were hearings and bills on the hill regarding putting limits on the scope of nsa spying, and there was momentum toward doing something. not sure if i buy that they would have done anything beyond window dressing, but that's what they said.

but now this terrorist threat shifts the conversation to the effectiveness of the spying programs, so the momentum to curtail the nsa's spying capabilities is completely stopped.



first, of course, the effectiveness of spying shouldn't really even be an issue. of course it can be effective, that's why there's a temptation to do it. the question is whether or not it's an invasion of privacy and/or a violation of explicitly safeguarded rights.


but more interestingly, can no one connect the dots enough to think that maybe, just maybe, this terrorist threat might have been played up just a tad in order shift the debate? i mean, the shrub administration did that so many times, so obviously and clumsily. do we really think these same bureaucracies are incapable of it just because a democrat is president?


even the phrase "out of an abundance of caution" suggests that this might have been a borderline decision (to close embassies) but they opted to make a bigger stink of it than they perhaps might have. hmm, i wonder why they went that direction at this time?

[PDJane]

1. I swear to you, every time I hear of another terror alert,

I wonder what the intelligence apparatus is up to now.

[niyad]

2. same here

[Safetykitten]

10. Same here also.

[geek tragedy]

3. There's always something going on when a terror attack happens or an alert is issued.

So, if one wants to play the "this is just meant to distract us from xyz" one can always make that insinuation.

The NSA thing has been going on for months now.

The fact that they closed the embassy in Yemen completely indicates this is no mere hype. Possible, sure, but not likely.

[unblock]

6. i don't doubt that there's something there. my thought is the converse

i rather suspect that there's more than enough "chatter" to make a national alert out of pretty much whenever they care to.

and i don't think terrorists are any more or less active or vocal compared to the shrub years, but note how there were always so many alerts when shrub was in power and not so many when obama came in? i don't think this is because anything changed other than the criteria for making noise about it.

someone decided this was worth making noise about. i'm just wondering whether they used the obama criteria or reverted to the shrub criteria.

[geek tragedy]

7. press reports are that it was a communication between al zawahiri and the head of AQAP.

Of course, they could have just been jerking the NSA around and testing to see if we could intercept their messages.

Shutting down embassies seems like an extreme reaction.

[unblock]

8. yeah -- if it's really all about "terror", they would *talk* about this stuff all the time.

and actually *do* only enough to maintain credibility.


all spy games involve information and *dis*information.

perhaps most of the times the terrorists *want* the nsa to "intercept" their vague plans and get all panicky about it and close embassies and put out terror alerts and so on. then they sit back an laugh at us.

[MsLeopard]

4. Thought the same thing myself

During the horrible Bush years, whenever a "terra alert" came out I'd walk around the house saying, 'Boo!!" to the grandkids, cats and dog, just out of frustration with the overt manipulation. I have the urge to do the same thing now, for the first time in a long time.

[JayhawkSD]

5. There is also the upcoming budget talks

and the raising of the debt ceiling.

Kieth Olbermann, who was pretty good before he completely lost contact with reality, called it "The Nexus of Terror and Politics."

[woo me with science]

21. The NSA spying is raising many other questions

that are extremely dangerous to the corporate elite.

The anger over the spying has expanded into long overdue anger about other assaults on our Constitutional protections, including the targeting of whistleblowers and protesters, and the attempted criminalization of investigative journalism. The growing awareness of corporate collusion in all these assaults is the last thing they want.

I think the growing awareness of the corruption here also endangers their pet projects on the horizon, including the predatory Trans-Pacific and the plans to impose more austerity in the budget talks. I think you're right that they are desperate to change the subject in a way that makes them our protectors.

[Marr]

9. Funny how the detection of the "threat" is based general communications chatter, too.

I don't trust anyone who tells me to be scared but gives me no specifics. And a government official who does it might as well have "look over there!" tattooed on his fucking forehead.

[leftstreet]

11. But did they tell us to keep shopping?

That's the only credible threat assessment you need

DURec

[unblock]

12. this time they told us to support your local nsa!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

13. The regime needs to hire a new PR team. This bunch is is stuck on fail.

[markiv]

14. anyone notice the 'terror color chart' quietly slipped away?

IMO it was because it was seen as purely a political tool with no credibility, and thoughtfull individuals within security probably warned that it was becoming little more than a boy who crys wolf

[Recursion]

20. It was retired pretty publicly

http://www.cnn.com/2011/POLITICS/01/26/threat.level.system.change/index.html

I don't remember it being a "quiet" replacement in any sense.

[Scurrilous]

15. LOL

Not this stupid @#$% again...

[unblock]

16. a bit more verbose than "k&r" but equally effective. thanks!

[The Link]

17. Its just a coincidence. Like those stupid colors when Bush was pres.

[quinnox]

18. It is interesting timing. It brings to mind the church lady - "How conveeeeeenient"

[woo me with science]

19. Terra! Terra! Terra!

Yup. The timing is very interesting and, some might say, predictable.

[Zoeisright]

22. Listening to Limbaugh, huh?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023416172

I thought this was Democratic Underground.