Defending the Indefensible

Bush officials are desperately struggling to defend their weekend decision to raise security alerts at major financial centres.

Bush's homeland security adviser, Frances Townsend, said that Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network carried out detailed surveillance of the financial targets in 2000 and 2001.

"And what we know from the way al-Qaeda does business, including on the 9/11 attacks, they do their homework well in advance and then they update it just before they launch an attack," Townsend told CNN.

So when was the information updated? Um... well... it "MAY" have been updated in January.... seven months ago!

"We don't do politics in the Department of Homeland Security," the head of that agency, Tom Ridge told reporters.

Then, in case there was any doubt, he helpfully added: "We must understand that the kind of information available to us today is the result of the president's leadership in the war against terror."