- WASHINGTON (CBS/AP) - That
Ashcroft overstated the threat of the Padilla Plot... shows with egregious
clarity how willing Ashcroft is to use scare-tactics to grab headlines,
control the news agenda and make himself look good.
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- Why is our own attorney general always trying to scare
us?
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- In his latest Against the Grain commentary, CBSNews.com's
Dick Meyer says its time for President Bush to rein him in.
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- Who needs terrorists when we have John Ashcroft to scare
us out of our pants?
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- The way the attorney general detonated the "dirty
bomber" case this week completes his metamorphosis from a common press
hog to a genuine fear monger.
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- That Ashcroft insisted that he had to scoop all the other
terror warriors (Mssrs. Mueller, Wolfowitz and Thompson) and make the announcement
about Jose Padilla, a.k.a. Abdullah Al Muhajir, in a panicky performance
from Moscow shows what a camera-moth Ashcroft is.
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- That Ashcroft overstated the threat of the Padilla Plot
and of "dirty bombs" as weapons of mass destruction, shows with
egregious clarity how willing Ashcroft is to use scare-tactics to grab
headlines, control the news agenda and make himself look good.
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- In his Monday statement, Ashcroft said, "In apprehending
Al Muhajir as he sought entry into the United States, we have disrupted
an unfolding terrorist plot to attack the United States by exploding a
radioactive 'dirty bomb.'"
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- By Monday night, my colleague Jim Stewart, was reporting
that FBI sources were "backing off" Ashcroft's assertion that
there was a specific, developed, real plan to use a "dirty bomb"
in the U.S.
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- By Tuesday morning, Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz,
the Administration's hardest hard-liner, was telling CBS News that, "
I don't think there was actually a plot beyond some fairly loose talk and
[Al Muhajir's] coming in here obviously to plan further deeds."
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- By Wednesday morning, White House sources were telling
USA Today that Ashcroft had been chastised for overplaying the Padilla
Plot.
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- On Monday, Ashcroft also said that, "a radioactive
'dirty bomb' involves exploding a conventional bomb that not only kills
victims in the immediate vicinity, but also spreads radioactive material
that is highly toxic to humans and can cause mass death and injury."
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- In truth, while "dirty bombs" are extremely
dangerous, it is an exaggeration to say they will cause "mass death
and injury." The conventional explosion that initiates a "dirty
bomb" can cause death and destruction in the immediate vicinity of
the blast. But the effects of the radiation that is then spread are long-term
and very uncertain. Perhaps the worst effects of a "dirty bomb"
are fear and panic. Ashcroft did his part.
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- The crazy thing is that Al Muhajir does seem to be an
actual bad guy. And al Qaida is actually interested in using "dirty
bombs." It is unquestionably a success that he was apprehended. Ashcroft
didn't need to exaggerate the threat and scare us more than necessary to
get some credit for that success.
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- This is a pattern with the attorney general. In October,
Ashcroft presided over two general warnings about impending acts of terror.
In his October 29 warning, he said, "the Administration has concluded
based on information developed that there may be additional terrorist attacks
within the U.S. and against U.S. interests over the next week."
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- Ashcroft was gently criticized then for scaring, not
calming, in a way that didn't make us safer or more prepared.
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- The same was true in April when he put on another hastily
arranged road announcement, this time in Pittsburgh, to warn that banks
in the Northeast could be terror targets. "It's important to note
that there is no specific threat to any specific institution," Ashcroft
said. "We are not asking the banks to close, nor urging people to
stay away from banks."
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- So why bother to make the announcement?
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- Well, it was a slow Friday and he had a good chance of
leading all three network news broadcasts.
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- The administration is taking heat lately for timing its
news making to further its political agenda. President Bush proposed the
new homeland security cabinet agency just as Congress was starting its
"connect the dots" hearings and as an FBI whistleblower was preparing
to testify. The hearings continued as the Padilla Plot was unveiled.
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- Minister of Propaganda Ari Fleischer hates to hear stuff
like that. "Look," he said, "these very few people who want
to make such an outlandish political accusation represent the most cynical
among the most partisan, and they're not to be taken seriously." Go
ahead, Ari, call us unpatriotic.
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- Personally, I think Fleischer should be proud of his
team's agenda control prowess.
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- They kept the homeland security agency announcement a
secret, they timed it to eclipse some negative stories and to give the
proposal more momentum in Congress. That's called politics. Or governing.
Or statecraft. Democrats and reporters shouldn't be "shocked, shocked."
And White House spinners shouldn't ride around on their high horsies.
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- But scaring people is another matter. And it's turning
the Department of Justice into the Ministry of Fear.
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- ___
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- Dick Meyer, a veteran political and investigative producer
for CBS News, is Editorial Director of CBSNews.com based in Washington.
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- E-mail your questions and comments to AgainstTheGrain@cbsnews.com
By Dick Meyer © MMII, CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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