“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders, that is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.” -Hermann Goering (Nazi planner)

Date	News Item(s)	Date	Terror Alert
Feb. 5, 2002	Angry lawmakers to subpoena Ken Lay over Enron scandal. Journalist enquire about Lay's close connections to the Bush administration Source: CNN	Feb. 12, 2002	Attorney General John Ashcroft on Tuesday called on "all Americans to be on the highest state of alert" after an FBI warning of a possible imminent terrorist attack. Source: CNN
May 22, 2002	(1) Bush goes on the record as opposing the formation of an independent commission to look into why 9/11 happened. (Mr. Bush's comments come after a two-day hearing on Capitol Hill with FBI director Robert Mueller and the agent who wrote the so-called "Phoenix memo" last summer warning about that Arab students training at U.S. aviation schools were linked to a militant Muslim group. Source: Associated Press  and CNN (2) The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee votes to issue subpoenas to the Bush administration for information on its contacts with bankrupt energy trader Enron Corp. Source: CNN	May 24, 2002	Railroad and other transit systems across the country received a Transportation Department warning based on "an unconfirmed, uncorroborated report", and were told to "remain in a heightened state of alert". Earlier this week, the government issued warnings about the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge, leading to tightened security at an around those New York City locations. Source: CNN
Sep. 20-23, 2002	(1) In the wake of damaging Congressional 9/11 inquiry revelations, President Bush reverses course and backs efforts by many lawmakers to form an independent commission to conduct a broader investigation than the current Congressional inquiry. The White House also refuses to turn over documents showing what Bush knew before 9/11. (2) Relatives of 9/11 victims grill the Bush Administration over their reluctancy to get to the bottom of it. Source: CBS News (3) The Pentagon completes and delivers to President Bush a highly detailed set of military options for attacking Iraq, said the New York Times, quoting Pentagon and White House officials on Saturday. The president has options now, and he has not made any decisions," states Ari Fleischer. Source: New York Times (4) Former Vice President Al Gore warns that President Bush's doctrine allowing for a "pre-emptive" strike against Iraq could create a global "reign of fear." Source: The Commonwealth Club	Sep. 24, 2002	Based on a review of intelligence and an assessment of threats by the intelligence community, as well as the passing of the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks and the disruption of potential terrorist operations in the United States and abroad, the Attorney General in consultation with the Homeland Security Council has made the decision to return the threat level to an elevated risk of terrorist attack, or "yellow" level. Source: White House Web Site
Feb. 6, 2003	(1) Colin Powell pleads with the UN Security Council for a first strike against Iraq. Source: CNN (2) Numerous anti-war organizations declared their intention to march against the plans to invade Iraq. In New York city, where nearly one million citizens voiced their opposition to the war plans (the level was placed in heightened orange alert just on time for the massive demonstrations of February 15, 2003). Source: NYCLU	Feb. 9, 2003	Citing credible threats that al Qaeda might be planning attacks on American targets, the U.S. government raised the national color-coded threat level Friday to orange, indicating a "high" risk of a terrorist attack. Source: CNN
May 12, 2003	Jay Garner, the retired lieutenant general who was the top civil administrator in Iraq, left his post and other senior officials were also replaced amid criticism about progress in Iraq. Source: PBS	May 20, 2003	The United States raises the nation's terror threat level Tuesday, saying the U.S. intelligence community believes al Qaeda has entered an "operational period worldwide" and might attack within the US. While Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said there is no "credible, specific information" about targets or method of attack”, he also references the now infamous WMD threat “"Weapons of mass destruction, including those containing chemical, biological or radiological agents or materials, cannot be discounted". Source: CNN
Jul. 24-28, 2003	(1) After the Bush administration delayed its publication for months, Congress releases its 9/11 findings. The government also deletes 28 pages of the report believed to detail Saudi funding of members of Al Qaeda in the Untied States prior to Sept. 11. Source: CNN (2) US troops charged with beating Iraqi POWs. Source: BBC	Jul. 29, 2003	Department of Homeland Security issues a warning about the possibility of suicide attacks on airplanes. Source: ABC News
Sep. 4, 2003	Both The New York Times and Vanity Fair start investigating the very damaging allegations that Top White House officials personally approved the evacuation of dozens of influential Saudis, including relatives of Osama bin Laden, from the United States in the days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks when most flights were still grounded, a former White House adviser said today. Source: New York Times	Sep. 5, 2003	A Department of Homeland Security advisory warns that al Qaeda is working on plans to hijack airliners flying between international points that pass near or over the continental United States. Source: CNN
Dec. 12-19, 2003	(1) Reports surface that auditors at the Pentagon are accusing Halliburton of refusing to hand over internal documents related to allegations that the oil service company overcharged the U.S. government in Iraq. Source: CBS News (2) 9/11 Chair Thomas Kean says the attacks were preventable. Source: CBS News (3) A federal appeals court ruled the government can not detain U.S. citizen Jose Padilla indefinitely without pressing charges against him or allowing him access to the courts. Source: CBS News (4) A CIA source reveals that David Kay may quit, having found no WMDs. Source: Associated Press	Dec. 21, 2003	Ridge raises the terror threat level. Source: CBS News
Feb. 5, 2004	CIA Director George Tenet Thursday said Iraq never posed an imminent threat to the United States. Source: CIA Web Site	Feb. 7, 2004	Tom Ridge raises the terror alert. Source: PBS
Mar. 11-16, 2004	(1) Military families organize together to oppose the war. Source: Washington Post (2) Democrats call for probe on Medicare cost cover-up. Bush appointee and friend, Thomas A. Scully, then head of the HHS agency overseeing Medicare, repeatedly told Medicare's chief cost analyst -- longtime federal employee Richard S. Foster, he would be fired if he told Congress that Bush’s Medicare plan would cost $535 billion over ten years, instead of the $395 billion that GOP leaders were using. This is illegal, and the Federal government’s General Accounting Office (GAO) is now asking Scully to return the salary he was paid because he broke the law and tried to hide true cost figures from Congress. Source: Washington Post	Mar. 17, 2004	National Threat Level Raised by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Mar. 21, 2004	Richard Clarke gives an exclusive to 60 Minutes about his book “Against All Enemies” just days before he is due to testify before the 9/11 Commission. "In the aftermath of Sept. 11, President Bush ordered his then top anti-terrorism adviser to look for a link between Iraq and the attacks, despite being told there didn't seem to be one. The charge comes from the adviser, Richard Clarke, in an exclusive interview on 60 Minutes. Source: CBS News (Note that the Bush administration had prior knowledge that Clarke was granting the interview and already had plans in place to discredit him that began the next day.)	Mar. 21, 2004	News sources report that a "high value target" Al Qaeda leader has been "surrounded" in the border with Pakistan. CNN suggests it may be Bin Laden or al-Zawahri (Source: Fox News ).  Reports of fierce fighting continue for a few days, then, after the fighting ends, no “high value target” is discovered.
Mar. 24 – Apr. 2, 2004	(1) Clarke delivers damning testimony under oath before 9/11 Commission and is all over the news. Bush administration starts a smear campaign against Clarke, which backfires. Source: MSN (2) Pressure builds for Bush administration national security adviser Condoleezza Rice to testify before the 9/11 Commission. White House allies and Republicans investigating the Sept. 11 attacks pressed to hear open testimony from national security adviser Condoleezza Rice -- with one member of the 9/11 panel calling her refusal a “political blunder of the first order”. Rice continues to claim executive privilege. Source: MSNBC (3) U.S. contractors killed and mutilated in by crowds in Falluja, Iraq. Source: BBC (4) The Pentagon issues a report that medical evacuations in Iraq hit 18,000. Source: UPI (5) Bush refuses to release Clinton papers to 9/11 Commission. Source: Detroit Free Press	Apr. 2, 2004	Bulletin sent from the FBI & Homeland Security warn of terrorists that may try to bomb buses and rail lines in major U.S. cities this summer. Source: PBS
May 17-19, 2004	(1) Colin Powell tells Meet the Press that he was deliberately mislead about WMD information. Powell's aide tries to cut him off mid-air. Source: MSNBC (2) Nothing but bad news on the prisoner abuse in Iraq. Former Abu Ghraib Intel Staffer Says Army Concealed Involvement in Abu Ghraib Abuse Scandal. Sources: ABC News  and MSNBC (3) Newsweek reports that President Bush's top lawyer warned two years ago that Bush could be prosecuted for war crimes as a result of how his administration was fighting the war on terror. Source: MSNBC (4) Tom Ridge testifies before 9/11 Commission on the second day of hearings in NYC. Source: 9/11 Commission web site	May 25, 2004	Homeland Security issues a terror alert: Major terror attack possible this summer. Source: CNN
Jun. 7, 2004	The Wall Street Journal publishes exclusive report demonstrating that the Pentagon provided legal rationales and loopholes in 2003 to use torture and methods of near-torture, and how to avoid various international treaties and US laws. Furthermore, the leaked memos suggest that they circumvent US and international laws, the US president should change the rules as they may see fit. All media outlets pick up on this explosive report. Source: Wall Street Journal and CBS News	Jun. 14, 2004	The Justice Department announces to the press they have thwarted an imminent terror plot to bomb malls in Ohio. Somali immigrant arrested and charged on the case. Source: CBS News Later, it is revealed that the Somali immigrant had been arrested one year earlier for his connections to terrorism, but there was nothing "imminent" in that case. The suspect was arrested in Nov. 28, 2003, and the Court papers filed by the government allege that a plot dated to March 2000. His indictment wasn't announced until the Bush administration thought it would serve their purposes (June 14, 2004) Source: Cincinnati Post
Jul. 6, 2004	Kerry names Edwards as his running mate. News covering the choice dominates the airwaves. Source: CNN	Jul. 8-11, 2004	(1) Tom Ridge holds a press conference on terror alerts over the summer and during the conventions. Source: Department of Homeland Security web site (2) Senior White House officials discuss the possibility of delaying the elections in case of a terrorist attack. Source: Newsweek
Jul. 22 - 30, 2004	(1) The 9/11 Commission releases their findings. While many criticize the commission for not going far enough, their report includes many examples of inaction and lack of leadership from the Bush administration. Source: CNN (2) Democratic Convention shows party unity. Kerry, Edwards and Obama provide electrifying speeches. John Kerry's acceptance speech is praised even by some conservative analysts. Campaign appearances immediately following the convention draw larger-than-expected crowds. Source: CNN (3) White House Projects Highest Deficit Ever. Source: Associated Press	Aug. 1, 2004	The Department of Homeland Security raises the terror alert at several large financial institutions in the New York City and Washington areas. Source: Houston Chronicle Ironically, two days later, Mrs. Bush and her two daughters visit the Citicorp Building in New York City. This is one of the buildings that Tom Ridge implied was under a dire and imminent threat from terrorists. It seems odd that the President's daughters would be allowed to visit a building supposedly about to be attacked by terrorists. Source: New York Post Later it is revealed that much of the information that led the authorities to raise the terror alert was three or four years old. Source: New York Times