It is now a common belief outside the US but also, although at a much lower extend, in America itself that President Bush and his closest collaborators? actions, words and behaviour may be doing more to terrify the American citizens rather that the al-Qaida terrorists.

In June 2002, many members of the US Congress were accusing the Bush administration for continuously telling the American public that it has credible information that terrorists are planning to repeat the September 11 attacks on the US soil.

All these messages, according to these Congressmen, were for political reason, to try to insure the Republican victory in the following November mid-term elections, as well as to improve the chance of Mr Bush being re-elected in 2004. National security is used to hide what the government wants to keep hidden. The Bush Administration cannot be trusted because of its contempt of civil liberties and law. The way the Guantanamo Bay prisoners are treated, the continuous threats to attack all nations whose politics are deemed to be directed against the interests of the US, the imprisonment without trial of any person thought to act against the same US interests, will lead to international instability and will encourage other nations to do the same.

This is not leadership; these tactics aiming to scare the population are based on political calculations. Some fortitude and calm resolve are needed in Washington; emphasising America?s vulnerability and short sighting will only help the terrorists. Here are only a few examples: 

- In June 2002 the State Department said that the US had reliable information that Cuba is developing biological weapons, and that it is exporting dual-use technology to Iran, where it could be used for germ warfare. The evidences were not made public, of course, so we could only take the information on 'trust'! Nothing came out of it and the accusation was forgotten.

- The US authorities at the highest level warned that there would be a terrorist attack on Independence Day, July 4, 2002. It is true that, on that date, an Egyptian limousine-driver, Hesham Mohamed Hadayet, living in the US but born in Cairo, killed two people and wounded many others at the El-Al checking desk at Los Angeles Airport. Hadayet had many arguments with his neighbours because he did not like them flying American flags. He went to the airport with a pistol, a handgun, and a hunting knife. He had an argument with an El Al ticket agent, and shot her in the chest. He also fired many other bullets, before being killed by a security guard. As a result there will now be armed security guards at all checking counters in the US although there was no terrorist involvement. The local police were treating it as a hate crime.

- In another accident the same day, a few people were killed when a small plane went down in a park where many people had gathered for the holiday. There too, there was no evidence of any terrorist link, and the police treated it as an accident. The majority of the ordinary people were more intelligent that their politicians and spent the holiday enjoying themselves as usual in these occasions, although the security had been stepped up.

- Now after July 4 was gone without any terrorist attacks, the US authorities said that bin Laden and al-Qaida were planning spectacular attacks on the US, Great Britain, and Israel around September 11, 2002. - It was decided that 500,000 US health workers would be vaccinated against smallpox.

 - John Ashcroft, the Attorney General, accused Jose Padilla, known also as Abdullah al-Muhajir, to plan attacking the US with a ?dirty? nuclear Bomb. A closer look showed that there was no realistic plan to build such a bomb, that it was still, at the worse, in the initial stage of discussion, and that Abdullah al-Muhajir can only be accused of talking. Even the White House had to intervene and say that Ashcroft's assertion was pure non-sense. Abdullah was refused access to a lawyer and a public hearing so we will not know if there was any evidence. He is to be kept in complete isolation indefinitely!! This is what the Americans call justice in the so-called 'Land of the Free'?

- On September 13, 2002, three students in medicine from Illinois (a Jordanian, a Pakistani and an Iranian) jokingly boasted in a Shoney's restaurant in Calhoun, Georgia, that they were preparing a terrorist attack in Florida. A waitress heard them, and told the police. They were arrested on the Interstate 75 near Naples, Florida. This lead to some panic, and the road was closed for many hours.

- The US Congressmen do not need to fear biological weapons any more. All have received a 'yellow bag' to put over their head in case of chemical or biological attack. The manufacturers guaranty full protection for a period from 2 minutes to one hour against anthrax, sarin, and other chemicals and germs. No protection was offered to the postal workers who were in first line when the previous anthrax attack occurred, leading to five deaths. If that makes the Congress happy!!

- At the beginning of November 2002, Tom Ridge, the US Home Security chief, requested US customs access abroad to all vessels directed to the US to help prevent terrorists smuggling weapons of mass destruction to the US. Soon they will want to control not only our ships, but also what we are thinking. But perhaps they are already doing it.

- All the men over 16 years old from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Syria, who entered the USA after September 11, 2001, have been fingerprinted and photographed when they cleared immigration. Now all men of the same countries who entered the US before that date must register with the Immigration and Naturalisation service where the same information will be taken. This rule regards non-resident aliens and does not apply to permanent residents -those with a green cards-, or to the naturalised citizens.

- The US Administration will make smallpox vaccine available to all Americans, probably in 2004, to protect them against a bio-terrorist attack. All military personal will be vaccinated first, then it will be available to about 500,000 emergency workers and, finally, to the civilians on a voluntary basis. Even President Bush and Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, will be vaccinated. Two weeks later we were told that President Bush did not suffer any side effect! Is this not an important news?

- On December 14, 2002, the FBI Director, Robert Mueller, said that about 100 terrorist attacks against the USA and its allies have been foiled since September 11, 2001. These 'successes' were due, in large part, to the information obtained through the interrogations of captured terrorists. He did not give any details, but warned that many potential terrorists are still at large in the USA.

- At the same time, President Bush gave the CIA the authorisation to kill about 24 named terrorists anywhere in the world, if capture is not possible. If this is not terrorism in itself and interference in foreign countries, what is it?

- The US administration said that the terrorists will 'inevitably' acquire weapons of mass destruction, and that they will use them, not only against the US, but also against some western countries. It is obvious that this is possible, but there is no proof that the statement is based on clear evidence. The US Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, added that Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya and North Korea were developing such weapons, and were ready to give them to terrorist organisations. On the other hand, it is a fact that the US has the largest number of these weapons in the world. Colin Powell, the Secretary of States, went further saying, 'No nation has the luxury of remaining on the sidelines, because there are no sidelines'. The same sources maintained that even the Statue of Liberty in New York City was threatened, and that the terrorists could store explosives in big apartment houses to blow them up. Not everything is perfect in the USA: - On December 29, 2002, the FBI was looking for five illegal immigrants of Arab ancestry who were thought to have entered in the USA the week before, probably with false British passports. We were not told what the five men (Abid Noraiz Ali, Iftikhar Khozmai Ali, Mustafa Khan Owasi, Adil Pervez and Akbar Jamal) are suspected of, but they must be important since the FBI has asked the population to help locate them. The next day the media said that they could be linked to al-Qaida. On January 7, 2003, the FBI stopped the search after they found that it was a hoax!

- Tampa Airport was closed for at least one hour on Tuesday January 14, 2003 and all the people evacuated because a suspicious parcel was found. Later on, it was found that the bag belonged to the security people; moreover, the bag was filled with substances to test their security equipment. So much for American efficiency!!

- The US government created a fund to compensate the relatives of the victims of the attacks. They now have the choice to accept the proposed compensation, or sue the authorities. On December 22, 2003, most families (95%) of the victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks have applied for compensation from the government fund renouncing to sue the airlines. As usual, some dishonest people tried to cash in. For instance, but they are not the only cases, three people said to have died in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre have been found alive in 2002. On September 17, 2003, Cyril Kendall who has 12 children was jailed for 11 to 33 years by an US Court for inventing a 13th son said to be killed in attack. He was hoping to get $160,000. Four of his children who testified that they had a brother called Wilfred may also be prosecuted. The official number of people killed in the attacks is now 2,792 plus the 19 hijackers.

- The level of intelligence of the American people is best shown by the adverts appearing on US newspapers at the beginning of January 2003. One of them maintains that those who own a SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle) help the terrorists. All this because these cars use a lot of petrol, and since the main oil producing countries are in the Arab world ... Last year, adverts aiming to discourage drug use were saying that the drug trade profits went to terrorists.

- On January 9, 2003, the USA admitted that the country?s defences against bio-terrorism were limited. There are few vaccines or treatments available to protect against some of Iraq's germ weapons (if they has any, but now everything devil is linked to Iraq). The production of vaccines to protect people against the effect of biological weapons has been hampered by lack of money from the government. Without drug companies producing the required drugs, the USA remains in danger, and these companies act only if paid. This has left holes in the defence against nerve poison, botulinum toxin, plague bacteria, and virus that cause brain infection.

- On January 16, 2003, the Bush administration said that the smallpox vaccinations could start the following week. However, two health care unions asked to delay the vaccinations because there is no money to compensate the people hurt by the vaccine.

- On July 22, 2004, The Guardian revealed that the US missed to prevent, detect, or disturb the September 11, 2001, attacks at least on ten occasions, four during the Clinton administration and six under Bush. These are part of the conclusions of the US Senate commission of inquiry that did not go so far as saying that the attacks could have been prevented.

- On August 3, 2004, we were told that the surveillance by al Qaida of five financial institutions that led to a terrorism alert occurred, most if not all, more than three years ago, if not before. The authorities do not know if the surveillance has since continued except that one piece of information on one building appears to have been updated as late as January 2004. However the information about the buildings in Washington, New York and Newark can be obtained through the Internet or other "open sources" available to the general public. But even three-year-old intelligence, when coupled with other information, could have justified the massive security response in the three cities. Other buildings such as the Bank of America building in San Francisco; the Nasdaq and American Stock Exchange buildings in New York were vaguely mentioned in the seized computer files. In consequence it was decided not to issue alerts about them. President Bush and Vice President Cheney said that the new alert underscores the continuing threat posed by al Qaida. Employees at the possible targets in New York and New Jersey arrived at work yesterday with a mix of defiance and fear.

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