Anti-terror card in election year: Commentary

A personage regarded as a "nova" in the political arena of the United States said that every word and move of US President George W. Bush would all be focusing on the re-election. In order to keep his approval rate high, Bush must do something. Recently, the raising of terror alert in some US regions seems to interpret the above assertion.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Tome Ridge announced on August 1 that since it is probable that the al-Qaeda terrorists will attack the five financial institutions including the City Bank, NY Stock Exchange, International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington and the World Bank, the US government decided to raise the terror-alert level from "yellow" to "orange", one step to the highest "red" level.

After that, media such as New York Times came to disclose that the government made such a decision according to the out-dated intelligence several years ago. This arouses Democrats' slamming Bush administration hard. They criticized Bush administration for deliberately creating a terrorist atmosphere after the Democratic National Convention in an attempt that Bush can make use of anti-terror issues to gain more points in the coming presidential election. Ridge and a White House Homeland Security Advisor, stood out one after another admitting the terror-alert raising was based on the out-dated information three to four years ago, but denying that the move by Bush administration was targeting the presidential election.

After the "9/11" incident, security threat, almost ubiquitous but unpredictable, has been indeed a concern of the US people and also became one of the focuses in the US presidential election this year. Regardless of whether the terror-alert raising has some implications, only the step from "yellow" to "orange" itself is telling the world that the United States is facing quite severely a security situation.

However, not long before, Bush made more than once announcement around the nation that after overthrowing the Saddam regime, the world turns more secure and beautiful. If reelected, four years later, the Untied States will become more secure and the world more peaceful. The remarks were refuted by Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, who said at UN headquarters on July 21 that under the condition of frequent acts of violence around the world recently, he did not think the world would be more secure than two or three years ago.

First claiming a "more secure and beautiful world", then quickly raising terror-alert level, it seems that Bush is self-contradicting. Actually some clue can be felt: "anti-terrorism" has been taken as a political card in the presidential year. The US political "nova" actually told us a common practice in US electoral culture.

By People's Daily Online