Politics

Did the White House Lie About Terror Plots for Obama Celebration?

It has been revealed today that there was another underwear bomb threat, this one foiled by the CIA, and originating out of Yemen:

The CIA thwarted an ambitious plot by al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb with a sophisticated new design around the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden, The Associated Press has learned.

The operation unfolded even as the White House and Department of Homeland Security assured the American public that they knew of no al-Qaeda plots against the U.S. around the anniversary of bin Laden’s death. The AP learned about the thwarted plot last week but agreed to White House and CIA requests not to publish it immediately because the sensitive intelligence operation was still under way. Once those concerns were allayed, the AP decided to disclose the plot Monday despite requests from the Obama administration to wait for an official announcement Tuesday.

But just a week ago, the White House was saying there were absolutely no known plots against America since Osama’s death:

There is no evidence that al-Qaeda terrorists are plotting attacks to coincide with the May 1 anniversary of the U.S.-led raid that killed Osama bin Laden, White House counter terrorism adviser John Brennan said.

At this time we don’t see any active plot that is under way but we are maintaining our guard,” Brennan said today on ABC’s “This Week” program. “We are vigilant throughout the course of the year but on a day that marks the one-year anniversary of bin Laden being brought to justice, we are especially vigilant.”

A decade after almost 3,000 people were killed in the Sept. 11 attacks bin Laden orchestrated against New York and Washington, Brennan said al-Qaeda’s ability to conduct terrorist strikes has weakened.

Why lie to the American public? Maybe because it would ruin Obama’s moment to “spike the ball” about Osama’s death?

During George Bush’s term, the press leaked many details about the War on Terror that put our troops in harm’s way, and even resulted in fatalities on the coalition side. Now that Obama is in office, could they be holding back in order to protect his election campaign? It’s not beyond the realm of possibility.