Bush Regime working out Procedures for postponing November Election

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http://globalresearch.ca/articles/TAR407B.html

 

Bush Regime working out Procedures

for postponing November Election

by Webster Griffin Tarpley

 

www.globalresearch.ca 10 July 2004

 

The URL of this article is:

http://globalresearch.ca/articles/TAR407B.html

 

The Bush regime is now working out procedures for

postponing the coming November general election. This

is totally unprecedented -- even in 1864, in the midst

of the Civil War, the Lincoln vs. McClellan

presidential contest took place according to the

schedule established by the Constitution and relevant

statutes. This represents further planning for a cold

coup designed to perpetuate the power of the current

gaggle of discredited neocon ideologues and their Wall

Street backers.

 

In a shamelessly partisan move, Homeland Secretary

Ridge today announced that al Qaeda has advanced its

preparation for a terror attack in the US designed to

disrupt the Democratic process. One wonders how Ridge

is able to know so much about the specific intent of

the terror attack he says is coming, in particular the

part about the intent to disrupt the election. Ridge

said during his press conference that we are now in a

" post-Madrid " atmosphere. He also confirmed that

planning for postponing the general election is now in

full swing.

 

Ridge's press conference marked a crude new low in

the shameless terror demagogy of the Bush regime. Even

Democratic politicians and CNN talking heads were able

to surmise that this outing was largely aimed at

deflating the five-point approval bounce which Kerry

had acquired by naming Edwards. It is clear that the

Bush campaign will rely on a relentless pounding of

the electorate with terror warnings, alerts, and

alarms over the next four months -- in the first place

as psychological warfare to strengthen the regime. At

a deeper level, the option of an actual ABC/WMD terror

attack at least one order of magnitude greater than

9-11 must be reckoned with, possibly as an October

Surprise, or perhaps sooner.

 

Finally, the Congress is looking into the June 9

incident in which a small plane lacking a transponder

caused the panicked stampeding of the entire US

Congress, including Senators, Congressmen, and staff.

This was a transparent ploy to terrorize the Congress,

where both parties have lately been giving Bush some

embarrassing moments over Abu Ghraid, the national

debt, the budget, and related issues.

 

FEDS EYE POSTPONEMENT OF US NOVEMBER ELECTIONS

 

Associated Press, 1 July 2004

 

WASHINGTON -- The government needs to establish

guidelines for canceling or rescheduling elections if

terrorists strike the United States again, says the

chairman of a new federal voting commission.

 

Such guidelines do not currently exist, said

DeForest B. Soaries, head of the voting panel.

 

Soaries was appointed to the federal Election

Assistance Commission last year by President Bush.

Soaries said he wrote to National Security Adviser

Condoleezza Rice and Homeland Security Secretary Tom

Ridge in April to raise the concerns.

 

" I am still awaiting their response, " he said.

" Thus far we have not begun any meaningful

discussion. " Spokesmen for Rice and Ridge did not

immediately respond to requests for comment.

 

Soaries noted that Sept. 11, 2001, fell on

Election Day in New York City -- and he said officials

there had no rules to follow in making the decision to

cancel the election and hold it later.

 

Event! s in Spain, where a terrorist attack

shortly before the March election possibly influenced

its outcome, show the need for a process to deal with

terrorists threatening or interrupting the Nov. 2

presidential election in America, he said.

 

" Look at the possibilities. If the federal

government were to cancel an election or suspend an

election, it has tremendous political implications. If

the federal government chose not to suspend an

election it has political implications, " said Soaries,

a Republican and former secretary of state of New

Jersey.

 

" Who makes the call, under what circumstances is

the call made, what are the constitutional

implications? " he said. " I think we have to err on the

side of transparency to protect the voting rights of

the country. "

 

Soaries said his bipartisan, four-member

commission might make a recommendation to Congress

about setting up guidelies.

 

" I'm hopeful that there are some proposals already

being floated. If there are,! we're not aware of them.

If there are not, we will probably try to put one on

the table, " he said.

 

Soaries also said he's met with a former New York

state elections director to discuss how officials

there handled the Sept. 11 attacks from the

perspective of election administration. He said the

commission is getting information from New York

documenting the process used there.

 

" The states control elections, but on the national

scale where every state has its own election laws and

its own election chief, who's in charge? " he said.

 

Soaries also said he wants to know what federal

officials are doing to increase security on Election

Day. He said security officials must take care not to

allow heightened security measures to intimidate

minority voters, but that local and state election

officials he's talked to have not been told what

measures to expect.

 

" There's got to be communication, " he said,

" between law enforcement and election officials in

preparat! ion for November. "

 

Ridge Warns of Election Terror Plot

 

8 July 2004, Associated Press

 

By KATHERINE PFLEGER SHRADER, Associated Press

Writer

 

WASHINGTON - The United States is tightening

security in the face of a steady stream of

intelligence indicating al-Qaida may seek to mount an

attack aimed at disrupting elections, the White House

and Homeland Security officials said Thursday.

 

Ridge Warns of Election Terror Plot (AP Video)

 

The Department of Homeland Security is addressing

the threat and has efforts under way to " ramp up

security, " White House press secretary Scott McClellan

said.

 

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said the

Bush administration based its decision to bolster

security on " credible " reports about al-Qaida's plans,

coupled with the pre-election terror attack in Spain

earlier this year and recent arrests in England,

Jordan and Italy.

 

" This is sobering information about those who wish

to do us harm, " Ridge said. " But every day we

strengthen the security of our nation. "

 

U.S. officials do not have specific knowledge

about where, when or how such an attack would take

place, but the CIA (news - web sites), FBI (news - web

sites) and other agencies " are actively working to

gain that knowledge, " Ridge said.

 

Notwithstanding the heightened air of vigilance,

the government is not raising its color-coded terror

alert status, he said.

 

A continuing stream of intelligence, including

nuggets of information gleaned from sources including

militant-linked Web sites, indicates an attack is

being planned, said a senior intelligence official,

speaking on condition of anonymity. Plans for such an

attack are believed to be near completion, the

official said, echoing what officials said earlier in

the summer before the Memorial Day weekend.

 

When asked if the threat is considered higher at

the political conventions this summer or as the nation

gets closer to the presidential election in early

November, the official said concerns are high from

this point in time forward.

 

In addition to ramping up security at the

conventions in Boston and New York, authorities have

begun working through the process of how to secure the

thousands of polling sites that will be used around

the country this fall, said another senior

intelligence official, also speaking on condition of

anonymity.

 

" We have briefed the campaigns, both campaigns —

the Kerry-Edwards campaign as well as the Bush-Cheney

campaign — about the security measures that are being

put in place for those conventions in New York and

Boston, " said White House press secretary Scott

McClellan.

 

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told reporters

that Americans should not expect a major announcement

on homeland security any time soon, indicating that

the nation's threat level could remain at its

" elevated " level.

 

" There's, obviously, no reason for panic, or

paralysis, " Frist said after a briefing for senators

on intelligence matters. " The country is at some

increased risk between now and the time of the

presidential election. It's important for people to be

aware of that. "

 

" What is clear is that law enforcement has

generally been notified. ... There are enhanced

activities on behalf of law enforcement around the

country to engage in deterrence and prevention, " he

said.

 

In April, a working group made up of

representatives from agencies that touch on law

enforcement, homeland security and intelligence was

established to deal with a series of events through

the election that may be attractive targets for

terrorists, including the presidential nominating

conventions.

 

Senior administration officials and

counterterrorism experts view the coming months as a

time to increase vigilance out of concern that Islamic

militants may try to replicate the political success

they had in Spain with coordinated pre-election train

bombings.

 

Nearly 200 died in the March attack, and the prime

minister's ruling Popular Party lost to a rival who

promised a pullout of Spanish troops from Iraq (news -

web sites).

 

Elaborate plans are already in the works to

protect the Republican and Democratic party

conventions in New York and Boston, which have been

classified as National Security Special Events. With

the designation — a concept that evolved from the 1996

Summer Olympics (news - web sites) in Atlanta — comes

federal funds, increased preparations and heightened

security.

 

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