Abstract

Trust and Terror

The author comments on the credibility of the Bush Administration and the timing of national security alerts, in light of an alert sounded just after the Democrats concluded a successful convention. In launching the Iraq war, Bush peddled false information and maintained that the threat was far more serious than the intelligence (even the overstated intelligence) claimed. In the middle of the latest terror-alert controversy, his Administration leaked the news that a computer whiz who had been passing on information about Al Qaeda had been arrested in Pakistan. One result of such questionable actions and misuses of intelligence (often barely challenged by a supine press) is that Bush has made it difficult to fulfill one of the most vital job duties of a President: to warn the public at home and abroad about true threats and to persuade people here and overseas to take appropriate measures. When it comes to the war on terrorism, little that Bush says can be taken on faith.