John Aschcroft and the Politics of Fear

David Neiwert at Orincus and pessimist at The Leftcoaster have great coverage and links on John Aschcroft's political BS terror warning.
Even MSNBC picked up on it.

Friday, Ashcroft's spokesman blamed the FBI, and the FBI admitted claims that terrorists were 90 percent ready to attack came not from al-Qaida, but from the Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades’ statements.

That the FBI apparently took the group seriously also troubles experts.

“To give this group any type of credibility is reckless,” said terrorism expert and NBC analyst Steve Emerson, “because it simply doesn't represent anything but one person claiming credit for attacks that has no control or not connected to, but simply trying to jump on the publicity bandwagon.”

He believes it reflects a larger failing on the part of the FBI.

“Portraying this group seriously is simply a reflection of the FBI's continued failures since 9/11 to basically develop an analytic capability at headquarters in assessing terrorist intelligence,” Emerson said.

So it appears the incompetence of the FBI is playing right into the political hands of Aschcroft.
Check out the above links and the links within the links for a good rundown.