Scott Tibbs
Printed in the Indianapolis Star, 06-02-2002
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Partisan politics do a disservice in the wake of 9/11
To the Editor:I am disappointed to read of partisan political attacks on our President in the wake of news reports about generic warnings of possible terrorist attacks before September 11th.
Since we are fighting a defensive war against terrorists, it is not possible to foresee or prevent all attacks. Our intelligence and law-enforcement agencies receive frequent threats and warnings of possible strikes, but many of these do not pan out. Warning the nation about every perceived danger runs the risk of creating a "boy who cried wolf" scenario, where repeated false alarms causes us to let our guard down when real threats emerge.
It is easy to make politically motivated snipes against the President with the benefit of eight months hindsight, but one must remember the context of the pre-9/11 world. Even then, could we have predicted that the weapons the 9/11 terrorists used to take over jetliners would be simple box cutters?
Partisan political games in hopes of increasing vote totals in November do a disservice to the American people and do nothing to solve the problem of terrorism. While Democrats complain, President Bush is making positive moves to protect the American people and to disrupt and destroy the terrorist network.