It Doesn't Have To Be Real To Work

by pessimist

In Greater Los Angeles this morning, the following caused a great deal of disruption:

Suspicious Packages Shut Down Metrolink Station

A "suspicious item" found at the Metrolink commuter train station in El Monte today prompted officials to suspend service from San Bernardino to Los Angeles for about three hours.

This incident just points out the effectiveness of the war of nerves being waged between Bu$hCo and Al Qaeda. Anything, and everything, can and is considered an immediate threat - even if it is harmless.

While I agree that the authoritiese do need to treat such incidents seriously, can we also ignore the fact that past Al Qaeda attacks have made us a bunch of scared sheep?

Bu$hco doesn't care that the nation lives under the shadow of fear, for it makes their political position that much more secure by poking us in our healing scabs. Thus, every time Al Qaeda wants to jump out of the shadows and holler 'BOO!', Bu$hCo benefits.

Now I don't know that today's incident wasn't just a prank by a San Gabriel Valley punk, but if it was something performed by Al Qaeda, then their psy-ops people are better than ours are! They understand that all they have to do is remind us of the real threat of a real attack, and they get the benefit as if it were a real attack, for we respond in the appropriate manner. In addition, we becomed accustomed to these incidents becoming false alarms, which makes us that much more vulnerable to a real attack.

The best move our 'government' could take would be to minimize every possible threat, as this poster presents:

Considering Fear: Today's Terror Alerts

Why do I have the sneaking suspicion that if terrorists are at work in Los Angeles, their next big strike won't look anything like these?

And you were all worried about the United Arab Emirates taking over the Port of Los Angeles? Fully one third of the shipping companies there are already foreign-owned ...

In truth, the port is as much a gaping welcome sign for terrorism as anything landing at LAX, but then so is the Red Line, the California Aqueduct or any number of other delivery routes for fear and trouble.

We can only hope the FBI, the LAPD, the LASO, the TSA, the CHP and the rest of our protective alphabet-soup agencies keep vigilant, and that the federal government stops giving terrorists a reason to attack us.

I can't argue with that!

As has been pointed out repeatedly over the weekend, even William F. Buckley says that Iraq - the most-potent terrorism motive - is lost, and an exit needs to be initiated.

Then, we can work on minimizing the other reasons Osama holds grudges. We'll be a much better nation for the effort if we do it well.

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