An Utterly Useless Warning

by Edward N. Luttwak
The Daily Beast

The CIA’s announcement about a coming Al Qaeda threat does not help us protect anything, anywhere, at any time.

We should be most grateful for the immense hard-work of the supremely expert CIA for providing us with the priceless warning of an imminent al Qaeda terrorist attack.

True, the billions of dollars spent on the salaries, fringe benefits, health care and frequent travel of the CIA analysts and case-officers who devote themselves to the gathering, studying, discussing, and publicizing of terror warnings are not enough to tell us when the attack might eventuate—"from three to six months" is a bit on the vague side. Indeed it’s hopelessly and uselessly vague because, as all know, maximized states of alert can only be sustained for days, not months or even weeks.

A great nation should not live in fear of attack from handfuls of barbarous fanatics. And it should not spend a dime to have those fears pointlessly increased.

It is also true, alas, that the billions we spend for the immense hard work of the supremely expert CIA is not sufficient to tell us how the terrorists will attack. Will it be an airline passenger again? Perhaps with his—or her?—body cavity filled with home-made explosives. That is perfectly possible of course, because by now in every souk of Araby and every bazaar of Af-Pak-istan all know that any wild-eyed youngish man with a one-way ticket and no baggage can sail through security controls. Because everyone is so intent on searching through the diapers of Swedish infants and the handbags of retired Japanese schoolteachers—not being named Muhammad, Hassan or Hussein, they cannot complain of racial profiling (racial? why not religious?), let alone sue airlines or airports. After all, from the president on down, every leader, preacher and teacher tells us that the enemy is terrorism and that is that—not terrorism by anyone in particular.

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