It looks like Howard Dean was right.
The information on which the Bush Administration raised the terror level Sunday in New York, New Jersey, and Washington, DC pre-dates 9/11, according to The Washington Post and other media services. That means that the surveillance of the target buildings occurred before 2001 and there is no evidence it continues.
Most of the al Qaeda surveillance of five financial institutions that led to a new terrorism alert Sunday was conducted before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and authorities are not sure whether the casing of the buildings has continued, numerous intelligence and law enforcement officials said yesterday.More than half a dozen government officials interviewed yesterday, who declined to be identified because classified information is involved, said that most, if not all, of the information about the buildings seized by authorities in a raid in Pakistan last week was about three years old, and possibly older.
"There is nothing right now that we're hearing that is new," said one senior law enforcement official who was briefed on the alert. "Why did we go to this level? . . . I still don't know that."
Well, I’m betting that the rest of us know why:
I am concerned that every time something happens that's not good for President Bush he plays this trump card, which is terrorism. His whole campaign is based on the notion that "I can keep you safe, therefore at times of difficulty for America stick with me," and then out comes Tom Ridge.- Howard Dean, speaking on Sunday
Yes, Howard, you nailed it.
