In the footsteps of yndy . . .

[unixronin]

. . . I link you now to the Kung Fu Monkey, who exquisitely sums up in this article about the latest terror dog-and-pony show exactly what I've been saying since 9/11:  Our government's response to terrorism is doing terrorists' work for them and handing them every goal they ever wanted, nicely arranged on a silver platter artistically inlaid with inscriptions from the Prophet.

The great Canadian plot that had organized over the internet, was penetrated by the Mounties on day one, and we were told had a TRUCK FULL OF EXPLOSIVES ... which they had bought from the Mounties in a sting operation but hey let's skip right over that.  Or how about the "compound" of Christian cultists in Florida who were planning on blowing up the Sears Tower with ... kung fu?

And now these guys. As the initial "OH SWEET MOTHER OF GOD THEY CAN BLOW US UP WITH SNAPPLE BOTTLES!!" hysteria subsides, we discover that these guys had been under surveillance, completely penetrated, by no less than three major intelligence agencies.  That they were planning on cell phones, and some of them openly travelled to Pakistan (way to keep the cover, Reilly, Ace of Spies). Hell, Chertoff knew about this two weeks ago, and the only reason that some people can scream this headline:

"The London Bombers were within DAYS of trying a dry run!!!"

-- was because MI-5, MI-6, and Scotland Yard let them get that close, so they could suck in the largest number of contacts (again, very spiffy police work).  The fact that these wingnuts could have been rolled up, at will, at any time, seems to have competely escaped the media buzz.

This is terrorism's A-game?  Sack up, people.

OK, people, pop quiz.  What's the goal of terrorism?  That's right, to create terror.  And what is our government doing about it?  Yup, that's right.  Creating terror.

"ZOMGWTFBBQ, international terrorists ALMOST BLEW UP A DOZEN PLANES WITH GATORADE BOTTLES!!!  We could all have DIED!!!"  Well, yeah.  Almost.  For values of "almost" that turn out to be "they didn't even get to make their dry run to see if it had any chance of working, they were rolled up as soon as they got ready to try it, because their entire organization had been penetrated to the core for months and they could hardly take a dump without Scotland Yard and Interpol knowing about it before they got done flushing."  Frankly, it was a non-event.  "Amateur Terrorists Fuck Up Big Time" would have been a better headline.  But to listen to the hysteria emanating from inside the beltway, you'd think they'd come within seconds of detonating dirty fusion bombs in the centers of multiple American cities and the town of Crawford, Texas.

Do you suppose it's mere coincidence that this huge media circus arrived just in time to distract attention from Joe "Hey, the Iraq War is cool!" Lieberman's humiliating rejection by his own party in the Connecticut Democratic primary?  . . . No, I didn't think so either.

Get this straight, folks, and get it good:  Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations to their best to foment and use terror to further their political ends.

And so does the Bush administration.  It's just that the ends are different.

Back to the Kung Fu Monkey for a moment . . .

Maybe it's just, I cast my eyes back on the last century ...

FDR [in 1941]: Oh, I'm sorry, was wiping out our entire Pacific fleet supposed to intimidate us? We have nothing to fear but fear itself, and right now we're coming to kick your ass with brand new destroyers riveted by waitresses. How's that going to feel?

CHURCHILL [in 1940]: Yeah, you keep bombing us. We'll be in the pub, flipping you off. I'm slapping Rolls-Royce engines into untested flying coffins to knock you out of the skies, and then I'm sending angry Welshmen to burn your country from the Rhine to the Polish border.

US, NOW: BE AFRAID!! Oh God, the Brown Bad people could strike any moment! They could strike ... NOW!! AHHHH. Okay, how about .. NOW!! AAGAGAHAHAHHAG! Quick, do whatever we tell you, and believe whatever we tell you, or YOU WILL BE KILLED BY BROWN PEOPLE!! PUT DOWN THAT SIPPY CUP!!

Monkey's kung fu is strong.

Comments

[olafthunderfoot.livejournal.com]

For a price I'd do about anything
Except pull the trigger
For that I'd need a pretty good cause
Then I heard of Dr. X
The man with the cure
Just watch the television
Yeah, you'll see there's something going on

Got no love for politicians
Or that crazy scene in D.C.
It's just a power mad town
But the time is ripe for changes
There's a growing feeling
That taking a chance on a new kind of vision is due

I used to trust the media
To tell me the truth, tell us the truth
But now I've seen the payoffs
Everywhere I look
Who do you trust when everyone's a crook?

Revolution calling
Revolution calling
Revolution calling you
(There's a) Revolution calling
Revolution calling
Gotta make a change
Gotta push, gotta push it on through

I'm tired of all this bullshit
They keep selling me on T.V.
About the communist plan
And all the shady preachers
Begging for my cash
Swiss bank accounts while giving their
Secretaries the slam

They're all in Penthouse now
Or Playboy magazine, million dollar stories to tell
I guess Warhol wasn't wrong
Fame fifteen minutes long
Everyone's using everybody, making the sale

I used to think
That only America's way, way was right
But now the holy dollar rules everybody's lives
Gotta make a million doesn't matter who dies

Revolution calling
Revolution calling
Revolution calling you
(There's a) Revolution calling
Revolution calling
Gotta make a change
Gotta push, gotta push it on through

I used to trust the media
To tell me the truth, tell us the truth
But now I've seen the payoffs
Everywhere I look
Who do you trust when everyone's a crook?

Revolution calling
Revolution calling
Revolution calling you
(There's a) Revolution calling
Revolution calling
Gotta make a change
Gotta push, gotta push it on through