Posted on 08/22/2009 9:33:07 AM PDT by God luvs America
Ridge Changes Tune On Terror Alert LevelsPITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Click to enlarge1 of 1 Tom Ridge (File) Alex Wong/Getty Images
Close
numSlides of totalImages Former Pennsylvania Governor and Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge is calling out former colleagues in the Bush Administration, suggesting they tried to play politics with the terror alert level.
The charge comes in a book due out next month.
Ridge claims other members of the Cabinet pressured him to raise the terror alert level shortly before the 2004 Presidential election.
He says Attorney General John Ashcroft and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld pressed him to support increasing the nation's terror threat level from yellow or "elevated" to orange, meaning "high."
Just four days before the election, Osama Bin Laden had issued a videotape threatening new attacks on the United States.
But in his book, Ridge says there was "no support" within his department for boosting the threat level and he refused.
He writes: "I wondered, 'Is this about security or politics?'"
This new contention directly refutes what Ridge told KDKA-TV's Ken Rice in an interview in June of 2008.
(Excerpt) Read more at kdka.com ...
here's an accompanying news video that goes alond with the story- pass it on to talk show hosts...
http://espanol.video.yahoo.com/watch/5793169/15166919
Day 2 I bought socks.......
OlberChrissie is breaking his neck to set the record straight he distorted this week.
Ridge is a damnable liar. I don't believe for a minute that Rumsfeld would do this. And, there is NO WAY that John Ashcroft, as pious and God-fearing as he is, would ever ask someone to lie TO THE WHOLE COUNTRY, merely for a political cheap trick - wouldn't happen.
Ashcroft, as it turns out was the one guy speaking the loudest against water-boarding (which was a mistake, but is neither here nor there) - much louder than Powell. It is not in Ashcroft's DNA to deceive like this. Period.
This is a classic case of he said/she said. Unless he can produce more than “I was told” we will never know for sure what really happened
Love how people turn into whores at the direction of their publishers.
Also, unless Osama bin Laden was in on the game when he issued one of his raving videos just before the election, I think there was obvious justification for raising the terror alert. Granted, the whole alert system seemed pretty lame to me, anyway, but there was certainly ample reason to implement it at that time. Or have we forgotten the fact that there were (and still are) very real threats?
Every so often someone floats Ridge as a presidential candidate—I hope this puts all of that to rest, permanently.
I never liked Ridge. He is the epitome of what’s wrong with the Republican Party.
Ridge, being a Pennsylvanian RINO, deserves a prime office space in the same reeking Garbage Dumpster as the Renowned Turncoat RINO named Arlen Sphinchter! another POS that was supported Loyally by Our Great President and then did everything he could to screw America and Republican Ideals and Principles:-)
I wish they would both just go away. Lynn Swann should have been Governor of PA.
To be on the safe side it is probably best to assume that everything he is saying or has ever said is a lie. To do otherwise would be naive.
“Love how people turn into whores at the direction of their publishers.”
Love how people TURNCOAT into whores at the direction of their publishers.
I completely agree.
I found the individual who made the claim credible.
Its Pathetic! Yes, Lyn Swann would have been Wonderful for Pennsylvania and a Great Leader for Our United Statesand a great Representative and Role Model! Instead, FAST EDDIE is still Trashing Pennsylvania and holding Minoritys in virtual Slavery to control their Votes and Nothing Else!
THank GOD that FAST EDDIE wasn’t able to steal Pennsylvania’s Once Proud Turnpike System for his Mob Thugs in return for a few pieces of Silver in his demented pockets:-(
I know that is funny and it almost is but I don’t get the joke.
“Ridge is trying to profit by separating himself politically from Bush.”
He (or his publisher) likely recognized that he had to say something to get some comments in the lib press.
However, what he actually says is that we wasn’t sure if alert levels were political or not.
There seems to be cause for thinking they were NOT political, and that he failed to grasp the larger picture of OBL and AQ’s public messages.
In 2001, the intelligence community was discredited, following the attack and MANY false alarms (including nuke reports) after 9/11.
Ridge missed most of this, and didn’t understand the context of mistrusting “quiet” intelligence.
The administration was very, very tramatized by what happened, expecially in the weeks after 9/11, at how rotten our intelligence was. We came very close to a few brinks during this time, based on false reports. Only wisdom and a steady hand in the WH saved us (stratfor has a lot on this).
Why would they think that Ridge or his brand new department would be able to see trouble coming? They (HSD) were all rookies, and new to the intelligence game.
It is not even that. His job was to deal in facts not fantasy. He has absolutely no evidence for this unless he claims to be a mindreader
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.