Tell truth about terror <p> The president is damned if he does, damned if he doesn't

charlotte.com ^ | Sun, Aug. 15, 2004

[TaxPayer2000]

When the Bush administration recently made public a terrorism threat based on computer discs seized from an al-Qaida operative, skeptics suggested the president was timing terror alerts to bolster his campaign for re-election.

After all, the operative whose capture led to the release of information was captured 20 days before President Bush's press conference. Most of the information received was from years ago.

Skeptics recalled that White House strategist Karl Rove said in a January 2002 speech to the Republican National Committee that national security could be a winning issue for the party. News reports told of a strategy for the 2002 elections, developed by top presidential advisers, that urged Republican candidates to campaign with messages highlighting the war on terrorism.

Heaven knows there's always reason to suspect politicians of playing politics, especially in an election year. But look at the situation President Bush is in. When he learns of a terrorist threat, he knows that if he goes public with it he'll be criticized for playing politics. And he knows that if he doesn't go public and terrorists blow up a big New York City bank, he'll be blamed for concealing information that might have saved lives. He's damned if he does, damned if he doesn't.

There's a lot wrong with the terror warning system. The color code has become a joke. The president should scrap it and develop a system that tells Americans in plain words what can be told about the nature of the threat. And Tom Ridge no doubt is a fine and in many ways capable fellow, but he's not a good spokesman. It's hard to avoid considering him a political flack when he says things like, "We must understand that the kind of information available to us today is the result of the president's leadership in the war against terror," as he said at an Aug. 1 press conference.

The president must beware suspicions that he's playing politics and avoid the temptation to cry wolf too easily. But he should tell the public when he has information that might deter terrorism and promote public safety and wouldn't compromise ongoing investigations. The flak he'd catch for playing politics with the public's fear is nothing compared to the anger he'd provoke by withholding information that could have saved lives.

[No Longer Free State]

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