Is terra on hold until after the election?

[Stew225]

Targeting our democracy
Charles Krauthammer (archive)

October 8, 2004

WASHINGTON -- Do the bad guys -- the terrorists in their Afghan caves and Iraqi redoubts -- want George Bush defeated in this election? Bush critics, among them the editors of The New York Times, have worked themselves into a lather over the mere suggestion that this might be so. A front page ``analysis'' in The Washington Post quoted several Republican variations of this theme -- such as Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage saying that the terrorists in Iraq ``are trying to influence the election against President Bush'' -- then noted that ``such accusations ... surfaced in the modern era during the McCarthy Communist hunts.'

'Last month, terrorists set off a car bomb outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta in the middle of a neck-and-neck Australian election campaign and just three days before the only televised debate between the two candidates. The prime minister, John Howard, is a staunch U.S. ally in both Afghanistan and Iraq. His opponent, Mark Latham, has pledged to withdraw Australia from Iraq by Christmas.

The point, of course, is that the terrorists have no particular interest in Kerry. What they care about is Bush. He could be running against a moose, and Osama and Zarqawi would be for the moose.

How to elect the moose? A second direct attack on the United States would backfire. As 9/11 showed, attacking the American homeland would cause a rallying around the president, whoever he is. America is not Spain. Such an attack would probably result in a Bush landslide. <snip>

Considering that Cheney shot off his mouth about the prospect of another attack if Kerry got elected, can we then assume that we will not be attacked before the election? You can bet that at least the colorful terra alerts will continue.

. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/charleskrauthammer/ck20041008.shtml