Tangerine Alert

By: GWYNNE DYER

HERE'S a game the whole family can play.

Pick any warning of a domestic terrorist attack issued by the US

Homeland Security Department, and replace the word 'terrorist'

throughout with some other frightening word.

It greatly enhances the entertainment value of the statement

without substantially changing its credibility.

 

Take, for example, Secretary Tom Ridge's recent warning that

various "iconic" financial institutions on the US east coast would

be on Orange Alert until - oh, probably well into November.

 

Now do the substitution:"Let me be clear:while we have raised

the threat level for the financial services sector in the affected

communities, the rest of the nation remains at an elevated, or Code

Yellow, risk of vampire attack... The vampires should know (that)

in this country, this kind of information, while startling, is not

stifling.

 

It will not weaken the American spirit, etc., etc."

 

It works just as well if you substitute the word 'werewolves' or

'zombies' or even 'aliens with anal probes.' And the reason it

works so well is because the 'terrorists' being promoted by Tom

Ridge and his friends are not flesh-and-blood enemies with clear

political goals and coherent (though violent) strategies for

achieving them.

 

Acknowledge that reality, and you could end up having to admit

that there is some connection between US policies, especially in

the Middle East, and the rage of the Islamist terrorists.

 

It's much more effective politically to portray them as faceless

demons driven by a love of evil and an unmotivated hatred of

Americans.

 

When Basque ETA terrorists blow things up in Spain or Tamil

Tiger suicide bombers do the same in Sri Lanka, the target

population knows that its attackers are real people with specific

and limited political objectives.

 

The terrorists that the Department of Homeland Security purports

to be defending Americans against could easily be the baddies in an

episode of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer.' So the Homeland Security

people run up the threat levels from Puce to Magenta to Crimson and

back down to Vermilion, keeping ordinary Americans in a permanent

state of anxiety, and most of the US media disseminate this

nonsense as though it had some connection to reality.

 

You would never know from the media coverage that the United

States is a country of almost 300 million people where not a single

individual has been killed by terrorists in the past 35 months.

 

You can, if you like, put this down to the vigilance of the

various US intelligence and security forces (though they have not

actually caught any terrorists who were in the United States and

actively planning attacks).

 

You could equally well conclude that al-Qaeda and its friends

don't have sleepers in the US who are able to carry out further

attacks, or that the Bush administration's response to 9/11 so

perfectly suited their plans that no further attacks have been

necessary.

 

What you should not be able to do is to portray terrorism as the

greatest danger facing Americans today.

 

Americans face a bigger risk of drowning in the bath than of

being killed by terrorists (a good reason to take baths in pairs

whenever possible), and a far greater risk of dying by falling down

the stairs.

 

Even in the tragic month of September, 2001, just as many

Americans died in highway accidents as from terrorist attacks, and

almost as many died of gunshot wounds.

 

Terrorism is a SMALL threat which has been inflated for

political purposes, and the clearest evidence that this is

conscious policy is the irrational but politically astute way that

spending has been allocated between competing security threats

since 2001.

 

If I were a senior al-Qaeda planner, I would not be in any hurry

to attack targets in the American 'homeland' again.

 

Even if I did want to destroy America's freedoms, I wouldn't

feel the need for another attack:when that loaded 'homeland' word

starts being used by official circles in any language - patrie,

Heimat, watan, rodina - you can already hear the symbolic jackboots

marching in the distance.

 

Since we senior al-Qaeda planners don't actually give a damn

about how the Americans run their domestic affairs, I would instead

wait until after the November election to see if Bush continues, or

Kerry adopts, the current, highly satisfactory US foreign policy of

invading Muslim countries and driving their populations into the

arms of our Islamist allies.

 

We certainly don't need to devote scarce resources to the task

of scaring the American public when the Homeland Security

Department does it for us for free.

 

* Gwynne Dyer is a London-based independent journalist whose

articles are published in 45 countries.

 

It greatly enhances the entertainment value of the statement

without substantially changing its credibility.Take, for example,

Secretary Tom Ridge's recent warning that various "iconic"

financial institutions on the US east coast would be on Orange

Alert until - oh, probably well into November.Now do the

substitution:"Let me be clear:while we have raised the threat level

for the financial services sector in the affected communities, the

rest of the nation remains at an elevated, or Code Yellow, risk of

vampire attack... The vampires should know (that) in this country,

this kind of information, while startling, is not stifling.It will

not weaken the American spirit, etc., etc."It works just as well if

you substitute the word 'werewolves' or 'zombies' or even 'aliens

with anal probes.' And the reason it works so well is because the

'terrorists' being promoted by Tom Ridge and his friends are not

flesh-and-blood enemies with clear political goals and coherent

(though violent) strategies for achieving them.Acknowledge that

reality, and you could end up having to admit that there is some

connection between US policies, especially in the Middle East, and

the rage of the Islamist terrorists.It's much more effective

politically to portray them as faceless demons driven by a love of

evil and an unmotivated hatred of Americans.When Basque ETA

terrorists blow things up in Spain or Tamil Tiger suicide bombers

do the same in Sri Lanka, the target population knows that its

attackers are real people with specific and limited political

objectives.The terrorists that the Department of Homeland Security

purports to be defending Americans against could easily be the

baddies in an episode of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer.' So the

Homeland Security people run up the threat levels from Puce to

Magenta to Crimson and back down to Vermilion, keeping ordinary

Americans in a permanent state of anxiety, and most of the US media

disseminate this nonsense as though it had some connection to

reality.You would never know from the media coverage that the

United States is a country of almost 300 million people where not a

single individual has been killed by terrorists in the past 35

months.You can, if you like, put this down to the vigilance of the

various US intelligence and security forces (though they have not

actually caught any terrorists who were in the United States and

actively planning attacks).You could equally well conclude that

al-Qaeda and its friends don't have sleepers in the US who are able

to carry out further attacks, or that the Bush administration's

response to 9/11 so perfectly suited their plans that no further

attacks have been necessary.What you should not be able to do is to

portray terrorism as the greatest danger facing Americans

today.Americans face a bigger risk of drowning in the bath than of

being killed by terrorists (a good reason to take baths in pairs

whenever possible), and a far greater risk of dying by falling down

the stairs.Even in the tragic month of September, 2001, just as

many Americans died in highway accidents as from terrorist attacks,

and almost as many died of gunshot wounds.Terrorism is a SMALL

threat which has been inflated for political purposes, and the

clearest evidence that this is conscious policy is the irrational

but politically astute way that spending has been allocated between

competing security threats since 2001.If I were a senior al-Qaeda

planner, I would not be in any hurry to attack targets in the

American 'homeland' again.Even if I did want to destroy America's

freedoms, I wouldn't feel the need for another attack:when that

loaded 'homeland' word starts being used by official circles in any

language - patrie, Heimat, watan, rodina - you can already hear the

symbolic jackboots marching in the distance.Since we senior

al-Qaeda planners don't actually give a damn about how the

Americans run their domestic affairs, I would instead wait until

after the November election to see if Bush continues, or Kerry

adopts, the current, highly satisfactory US foreign policy of

invading Muslim countries and driving their populations into the

arms of our Islamist allies.We certainly don't need to devote

scarce resources to the task of scaring the American public when

the Homeland Security Department does it for us for free.* Gwynne

Dyer is a London-based independent journalist whose articles are

published in 45 countries.

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