# New Terror Alert! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 20, 2002, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-terror-alert/109989 "2002-05-20T20:20:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chekmate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@Chekmate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chekmate)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-terror-alert/109989/1 "2002-05-20T20:20:13Z")
\ We have a new terror alert! We have unverified information from an ex al-queda soldier that a terror attack may occur sometime in May. It was given to us sometime yesterday, and we don’t have any information on the potential time, date, location, or how it will happen, but again, we are issuing a warning that there _may_ be a terrorist attack in the US. \ WTF?!? What’s the point of alerting the public like this? To scare a bunch of people? I just don’t get it. If you have no information about how, where, when, who, then DON’T RELEASE THE INFORMATION!:mad: ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-terror-alert/109989/2 "2002-05-20T20:29:51Z")
Because then people screech when they find out later on that we had some vague information about a possible attack that might happen at some point later on - witness the hubbub about the “Al Qaeda might attack the US with planes” memo, etc. ---
**Author:** ![sidle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@sidle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidle)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-terror-alert/109989/3 "2002-05-20T20:35:19Z")
I disagree. I thought the point was to make people more vigilant. Yeah, yeah, I know, those who are inclined to be so are already vigilant, and those who aren’t-no press release is gonna make them more careful. However, it’s worth it to release this type of info to put law enforcement on heightened alert. Just notifying law enforcement would cause leaks, and then the whole thing would be blown out of proportion when the public wonders why the info was kept from them. There’s really no way for them to win on this one, but I think that in this situation it makes sense to err on the side of full disclosure. Hell, think about it from a culpability point of view. Example: if someone can later claim they would have stayed out of federal buildings had this info been circulated, and a terrorist bomb goes off in in their city, injuring them, suddenly the big bad gubmint is responsible, because they withheld information. Another reason? It alerts would-be terrorists that the govt :may: be onto them. They wonder where the leak came from, how much is really known, etc. They may regroup and go back underground rather than risk having a plan diffused. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-terror-alert/109989/4 "2002-05-20T20:44:00Z")
Exactly what good does it do for the Vice President to diplomatically call a news conference and go, “WE’RE GONNA DIE WE’RE GONNA DIE WE’RE GONNA DIE!!” I don’t remember Churchill doing that during the Blitz. Maybe Cheney figures, “Hell—If I’M gonna die of a heart attack, EVERYONE’S gonna die of heart attacks!” I mean, how much more vigilant am I supposed to BE? Already, my eyeballs are popping out of my head. Does he want them to roll around on the floor like marbles? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-terror-alert/109989/5 "2002-05-20T21:02:06Z")
I liked the SNL skit with Donald Rumsfeld. (Paraphrasing): So, this is our new color-coded threat asessment system: White: Everything’s hunky dory Off-white: An attack is iminant Pearl: There’s a very good chance of an attack Cream: An attack is likely Beige: Same as off-white Bone: We have reason to believe an attack, somewhere in the US, will occur within the next 50 years Black: Meteor hits the earth and we all die. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-terror-alert/109989/6 "2002-05-20T21:29:45Z")
A release of crappy information like this will convince a lot of credulous people that the nation’s intelligence apparatus is getting better at pinpointing threats to national security. Come August they’ll be able to say, yet again, that nothing happened, so they must be doing something right. Not only is this approach cheaper than actually improving intelligence, it gives the administration something to crow about before the fall elections. ---
**Author:** ![musicguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@musicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicguy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-terror-alert/109989/7 "2002-05-20T21:37:37Z")
It seems like every time people start asking questions about this administration, a new batch of alerts get released. Gotta keep those popularity poll results high, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-terror-alert/109989/8 "2002-05-20T23:12:00Z")
Perhaps there is some political advantage to be had in keeping us whipped into a panic? A frightened people is an easly controlled people? Something like that? Something stinks. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2002, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-terror-alert/109989/9 "2002-05-20T23:55:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by particlewill \* > \*\*Perhaps there is some political advantage to be had in keeping us whipped into a panic? A frightened people is an easly controlled people? Something like that? > > Something stinks. \*\* Either they’re plotting something because they didn’t tell us about warnings beforehand, or they’re plotting because they _are_ telling us about warnings beforehand. Jesus Christ, make up your mind! ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-terror-alert/109989/10 "2002-05-21T02:10:13Z")
Personally, I think this is just wagging the dog (“What? A scandal brewing? Put out another alert!”), but there is, conceivably, a real reason for it. Related to this: > [@](#): > > Another reason? It alerts would-be terrorists that the govt :may: be onto them. They wonder where the leak came from, how much is really known, etc. They may regroup and go back underground rather than risk having a plan diffused. Rather than pegging the alert to something specific designed to make the terrorists slink back into their holes, it’s also possible that this is designed to _flush them out._ Notice how the news reports quote the administration about “increased communication activity.” What if there isn’t any? Think about it: Terrorist groups are organized into discrete cells. Each terrorist knows about and is in contact with only a small number of other terrorists. This is one of the biggest reasons they’re such a huge pain in the ass, because the organization is fundamentally decentralized. So: You announce a spike in communications, apropos of nothing. The various cells frown, thinking to themselves, “I didn’t get _that_ memo.” They try to contact their confederates to verify that something is actually going on. And law enforcement surveillance picks up _that_ spike in communications. I have no idea if that’s what’s really going on, but it’d be a pretty neat trick if it is. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-terror-alert/109989/11 "2002-05-21T04:56:26Z")
Vice President Cheney, in a news conference, today revealed that all Americans will die. “You’re all doomed–every single one of you is doomed. We don’t know when, and we don’t know how, but every man, woman, and child in this country is doomed to certain death!” ---
**Author:** ![sidle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@sidle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidle)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-terror-alert/109989/12 "2002-05-21T13:46:01Z")
Cervaise- Interesting theory. It would be very cool if that’s what they’re attempting. Not all that far-fetched, either, IMO. How many criminal cases release false info, or withhold certain crime scene details, hoping for precisely that effect? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2002, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-terror-alert/109989/13 "2002-05-21T17:00:22Z")
From today’s wire services: WASHINGTON (AP) - Terrorists are sure to eventually acquire nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told senators Tuesday. Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya and North Korea are developing such weapons of mass destruction and will supply them to terrorists to which they already are linked, Rumsfeld said. “They (terrorists) inevitably will get their hands on them and they will not hesitate to use them,” Rumsfeld told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee. —Rumsfeld added, "I suggest all Americans give up now and kill their families and themselves immediately. I plan to bow to our Terrorist Overlords, in the vain hope that they will spare my unworthy life. WE’RE GONNA DIE WE’RE GONNA DIE WE’RE GONNA DIE!!”