Friday, May 28

Terror Is Now A "Turf War" Between Ashcroft and Everyone Else

Great mother of Jeebus. It's the Alexander Haig "I'm Now In Control" moment all over again. CBS News is saying Ashcroft may have called the terror alert press conference to show his leadership in the war on terrorism.

If you've got broadband, see the story here.
Otherwise, read it here.

It's time to hit the reset button on these jackasses.

Sources tell CBS News Correspondent Bob Orr the Justice Department did nothing to put other agencies in the loop before broadcasting "be-on-the-lookout" pictures of seven suspected terrorists.

The information was not shared with state and local police forces, or even with the FBI's field offices. It wasn't supposed to be this way after 9/11, said one administration official, who noted "the whole warning process was usurped by the Attorney General."

Beyond that, senior counterterrorism officials question the legitimacy of the bulletin, saying there is no new, specific, credible evidence pointing to an imminent attack in the U.S.

Homeland Secretary Tom Ridge, who did not appear with Ashcroft at Wednesday's press conference, seemed to downplay the warning in a series of interviews.

"There's not a consensus within the administration that we need to raise the threat level," said Ridge.