>All in all, these data suggest that there is at least a modest rally
>effect at work among Americans. The immediate reaction of the public to
>the increased insurgent activity and concomitant deaths of U.S. soldiers
>has not been to support a retreat from involvement in Iraq, but rather to
>call for an increase in the number of troops there.
now, who says they don't know what they're doing?! plus, a lot of the people I've seen switch to opposing the war are doing so out of a "fuck'm. they're barbarians" attitude. as carrol says, keep plugging away. it's gonna be a long war.
that said, while Shrub is holding steady, he technically should have seen a spike, correct? There's usually a bounce in the polls when the prezdinet is under attack. So, if support has only gone up a little bit or held steady, we may still see a downward trend in the long-term. There's supposed to be a mild shake up over the 9.11 report, too, so that might keep the pressure on the downward trend.
Speaking of Bushevik incompetence, while thoroughly absorbed at the 911 project site, I came across reports that ObL had been planning to assassinate Shrub around the Genoa/G-8 meetings. This back and forth assassination thing had been going on for awhile, with Clinton trying to off ObL with 66 missiles hurled at Afghanistan, as well as the aspirin factory fiasco. Pretty fucking amazing, IYAM.
July 3, 2001
James Hatfield, author of an unflattering book on Bush called Fortunate Son, claims he has evidence al-Qaeda will try to assassinate Bush at the G8 Summit in Genoa, Italy (see July 20-22, 2001), possibly through a suicidal plane crash. This is the first public mention of the plot (see Mid-July 2001). <....> http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a0701summit
Mid-July 2001
US intelligence reports another spike in warnings (see June 13, 2001 for a previous warning) related to the July 20-22 G-8 summit in Genoa, Italy (see July 20-22, 2001). The reports include specific threats discovered by the head of Russia's Federal Bodyguard Service that al-Qaeda will try to kill Bush as he attends the summit. [CNN, 3/02] The reports are taken so seriously that Bush stays overnight on an aircraft carrier offshore, and other world leaders stay on a luxury ship. [CNN, 7/18/01] Two days before the summit begins, the BBC reports: "The huge force of officers and equipment which has been assembled to deal with unrest has been spurred on by a warning that supporters of Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden might attempt an air attack on some of the world leaders present." [BBC 7/18/01] http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a0701summit
July 20-22, 2001
The G8 summit is held in Genoa, Italy. Acting on previous warnings that al-Qaeda would attempt to kill Bush and other leaders (see Mid-July 2001), Italy surrounds the summit with antiaircraft guns, keeps fighters in the air, and closes off local airspace to all planes. No attack occurs. US officials at the time state that the warnings were "unsubstantiated" but after 9/11 claim success in preventing an attack. Lying about Genoa keeps the public and the airlines uninformed about the seriousness of the current terrorist threat. [Los Angeles Times, 9/27/01 (B)] FTW http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a072001summit
One of Clinton's assassination attempts:
Mid-August 1998
President Clinton signs a Memorandum of Notification authorizing the CIA to plan an assassination of bin Laden. The CIA draw up detailed profiles of bin Laden's daily routines, where he sleeps, and his travel arrangements. The assassination never happens, supposedly because of inadequate intelligence. But, as one officer later says, "you can keep setting the bar higher and higher, so that nothing ever gets done." An officer who helped draw up the plans says, "We were ready to move" but "we were not allowed to do it because of this stubborn policy of risk avoidance
It is a disgrace." [Philadelphia Inquirer 9/16/01] Additional memorandums quickly follow that authorize the assassination of less than ten other al-Qaeda leaders, and authorize the shooting down of private aircraft containing bin Laden. [Washington Post, 12/19/01] "These directives [lead] to nothing." [New Yorker 7/28/03] http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a0898cia
Mid-August 1998-January 2001
Within days of the US embassy bombings (see ), the US permanently stations two submarines in the Indian Ocean, ready to hit al-Qaeda with cruise missiles on short notice. Missile are fired from these subs later in the month in a failed attempt to assassinate bin Laden (see ). Six to ten hours advance warning is now needed to review the decision, program the cruise missiles and have them reach their target. On at least three other occasions, spies in Afghanistan report bin Laden's location with information suggesting he would remain there for some time. Each time, Clinton approves the strike. Each time, CIA Director Tenet says the information is not reliable enough and the attack cannot go forward. [Washington Post, 12/19/01, New York Times, 12/30/01] The submarines are removed shortly after President Bush takes office (see Late January 2001 (B)).
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a0898clinton
Kelley