Doug Henwood wrote:
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>
> Does this serve any purpose but to scare us all into dutiful submission?
>
Motive is usually impossible to pin down. I might guess that they are determined that if something _does_ happen no one will be able to say the intelligence people weren't on their toes. In other words _they_ are scared of looking stupid, though it's impossible to tell what level (of the bureaucracy, of ?) that "they" refers to. The simplest explanation usually is that someone is trying to cover their ass.
On the other hand, it is really hard to keep a 50 year war bubbling when there is no visible enemy to fight against.
Carrol