I'm wondering where everyone comes down on our recent terror alerts from Ridge & Co. They are very vague with these warnings and even as they tell you to be vigilant they also tell you that it's difficult to know if the threats are authentic or not. I imagine that these warnings are working up a good deal of fear and consternation among people all over this country, but I am not sure that it is worthwhile. Given the fact that Ridge cannot give any precision as to where, when, how, or even if an attack is likely or not, is it irresponsible to be putting fear into so many people's lives?
Of course, you can also argue that if there was to be an attack there would be public outcry if there was no warning and so they need to give warning, even if they are unsure. When you get down to it, it is probably very difficult to assess the validity of a threat, so perhaps it is fair to issue a blanket warning like this, given that the practice of predicting attacks is very imprecise and they do not want to be falling down on the job?
So which is it? Are these alerts simply irresponsible behavior that we would be better off without, or is it just the result of people trying to do their best in an impossible situation?
Please, no rants about government trying to control us through fear, conspiracy theories about the election cycle, poll numbers, etc, etc.