We're all wearing the tin foil now

If someone had told me five years ago that US soldiers would hide prisoners from the International Red Cross, I would have given them the URL for the Lone Gunmen Nut Club.

That was then. This is now.

Now when John Ashcroft warns us of a potential terrorist attack on US soil this summer, I adjust my tin foil hat and mutter, 'don't you just wish, John?' Alas, credibility isn't the fungible asset that our SecDef declares our soldiers to be, and the supply is getting awfully scarce on the ground these days.

Is there anyone who thinks this is anything but an attempt to innoculate the administration against blame if an attack does occur? They're not raising the 'threat level', they're not alerting the first responders, big cities which are logical targets such as NY and LA report no more detailed information has been released to them than the general 'be on the lookout' that the public received. (More here.)

Pardon my cynicism, but why do I get the feeling that if we are attacked, the administration's first response is going to be, 'see, we warned you - you can't blame this on us.'

Well, yes we can.

The purely optional war in Iraq has been a huge recruiting tool for our enemies (see link). If I really deserved this tin-foil hat I'm wearing, I'd suspect that Bush was working in league with bin Ladin for some kind of joint global domination plan like supervillains in a DC comic.

And if we are attacked, say, in a major metropolitan area, who's going to be there to respond? The National Guard? I don't think so; they're off Guarding our Nation in Bahgdad and environs. Western states are wondering how they're going to be dealing with forest fires this year, with up to sixty percent of their usual responders on the other side of the world. (See link.)

If this bumbling group of 'grown-ups' intended to destroy the security and credibility of the United States, they couldn't have done a better job than what they're doing now. Coincidence?

Cue theme from Jaws.