Forwarded from: Travis Howe <Travis.Howeat_private> I agree mostly rf. Being from a previous military organization that had links to this type of information I can see what is happening. In the past we've received threats almost on a daily basis that we've just continuously blown off, just like we had an idea of Sept. 11th. So many threats that you can't begin to process them all for legitimacy w/ our past organization size allotted to this task. We now have almost no choice to jump on every slightly credible threat or the Intel organizations are going to take another bad hit that will make the public go into a frenzy. R/ vh -----Original Message----- From: InfoSec News [mailto:isnat_private] Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2001 2:19 AM To: isnat_private Subject: Re: [ISN] true terror... Forwarded from: Richard Forno <rfornoat_private> There are two reasons for them to keep issuing these warnings. Conspiracy Theory: The reason why we keep seeing these "credible warnings" is simple. By issuing a warning, even one as nebulous as what we've seen recently, the FBI - the agency in charge of counterterrorism - can have plausibile deniability in the event something occurs. Eg, Week 2: "We have credible evidence...' (Nothing happens) Week 3: Bad press aimed at FBI for panicking folks Week 4: "we have credible evidence...' (Nothing happnes) Week 5: More bad press aimed at FBI for panicking folks ... Week 24: "We have credible evidence...." (SOMETHING HAPPENS) Week 25: Press goes ga-ga and sings the FBI's praises for alertness; Emperor Ashcroft lobbies for and receives more funding for FY03. Now they can honestly say they provided public warning, and as a result, are cleared of any 'witholding information' that cost American lives. Hopefully-The-Real-Reason Theory: Of course, the rationalist in me sees this as a catch-22 for the FBI. If they DON'T issue an alert, and something happens, they're bitched at for witholding information and being incompetent. If they DO issue an alert, and nothing happens, they're bitched at for undue panic and fear-mongering. A frustrating situation, to be sure. I hope this is the real reason for them doing this. My 2 cents. rf - ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org To unsubscribe email majordomoat_private with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Nov 08 2001 - 06:41:13 PST