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What Ashcroft didn't (quite) say Reading Between His LinesBy Rick Horowitz I owe John Ashcroft an apology. From time to time, I may have thought -- in unguarded moments, I may even have murmured aloud -- that our attorney general was as subtle as a cinder block to the solar plexus. I take it all back. I now understand that John Ashcroft is an absolute master of nuance, a veritable virtuoso of insinuation. And all it took for me to come to this understanding was watching him work his magic at that news conference last week -- the one where he sounded the alarm about a possible new al-Qaeda attack on the United States in the next few months. "Credible intelligence from multiple sources," Mr. Ashcroft said. Indications of "al Qaeda's specific intention to hit the United States hard." Even a relatively recent statement from "an al-Qaeda spokesman" that arrangements for an attack on the United States were "90 percent" complete. Mr. Ashcroft may be right about all of it, although it was interesting that Tom Ridge -- who is, after all, the head of the Department of Homeland Security -- had been on TV himself just a few hours earlier offering a much calmer assessment. It was also interesting that the "al-Qaeda spokesman" Ashcroft cited is apparently an organization which has tried to claim responsibility for everything from synagogue bombings to last year's blackout in New York. Which is to say, as far as credibility goes, the group seems to have a pretty high bluster-to-blaster ratio. But that wasn't the subtle part. The subtle part came right after that, when the attorney general said these two sentences: "The Madrid railway bombings were perceived by Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda to have advanced their cause. Al-Qaeda may perceive that a large-scale attack in the United States this summer or fall would lead to similar consequences." Now, many of Mr. Ashcroft's critics felt that this news conference was simply an attempt to change the subject, to get voters refocused on President Bush as Battler Against Terrorists, rather than, say, Dragger Into Quagmires or Minimizer of Prison Scandals. Or at best, they figured, Mr. Ashcroft was trying to cover his behind -- his and the rest of his administration's: If anything happens, you can't say you weren't warned. But those two little sentences do so much more than that! Very quietly, very gently, the attorney general uses them to try to stick a knife into John Kerry. Let's read between the lines and follow Mr. Ashcroft's logic, OK? OK. Why were the Madrid railway bombings "perceived by Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda to have advanced their cause"? Because the bombings occurred just days before Spanish elections, and in the aftermath of the bombings, Spain's prime minister, who had strongly supported the war in Iraq and had sent Spanish troops to join the fight, was voted out and replaced by a prime minister who had opposed the war and had pledged to withdraw the troops. And so the "similar consequences" that al-Qaeda "may perceive" would come from a large-scale attack in the United States this summer or fall? Logically speaking, it could only be that American voters would react to an attack here in the United States by sending our own leader packing. So if something bad does happen between now and Election Day, it's not because the Bush administration might have failed in some way to protect us, but because al-Qaeda wants to defeat George Bush. (Set aside for the moment the fact that, unlike in Spain, George Bush's opponent also supports the war with Iraq, and might even be able to put together a more effective international effort to get things done. Set aside, too, the distinct possibility that George Bush in office is one of al-Qaeda's greatest recruiting tools.) So -- back to Ashcroft logic -- if something bad does happen between now and Election Day and the American people blame George Bush for it, they'll be doing exactly what al-Qaeda wants them to do! Pretty cagey argument, don't you think? But wait -- there's more! Because -- and it's all perfectly logical, once you start wandering down Ashcroft Alley -- even if nothing happens between now and Election Day, everyone still knows that al-Qaeda wanted George Bush to lose. So -- drum roll, please: A vote for John Kerry is a vote for al-Qaeda! John Ashcroft didn't say any such thing, of course -- it's all tucked away in the spaces and the shadows. That's what makes it so brilliant. I should never have underestimated him; he's the Attorney General of the United States. And for that, I'm truly sorry. Posted 6/1/04. You'll
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Rick Horowitz
