July Surprise: Is Bush Pressuring Pakistan to Capture Bin Laden During DNC?

In the latest in what have become regular, uninformative announcements from the Bush administration on possible terror threats, Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge warned yesterday that terror groups may attempt to attack the United States in an effort to disrupt the November elections. In making the announcement, Ridge and several news outlets cited the bombings in Spain ahead of that country's elections earlier this year as an example of what could happen here in the US. In reporting on Ridge's announcement yesterday, CNN host Miles O'Brien said that in Spain, the terrorists had shifted the elections "in their favor." In that election, Socialists ousted the right wing government of Jose Maria Aznar.
Yesterday's announcement follows previous warnings from Ridge and other administration officials about possible attacks at the Republican and Democratic conventions this summer.

Meanwhile, an explosive new article has just come out in the new edition of The New Republic magazine called "Pakistan for Bush: July Surprise?" It charges that the Bush administration may be pressuring Pakistan to deliver a so-called "High Value Target" before November-ideally at the height of the Democratic National Convention at the end of this month. Such a move would surely eclipse John Kerry's moment in the national spotlight and could lessen the boost in the polls Kerry is expected to gain during the convention.

Recent moves by the Bush administration regarding Pakistan policy also indicate that a deal could well be in the works that would reward Pakistan for a big bust at a time convenient for the Bush reelection effort. We are joined now by the lead journalist on the story.

John Judis, senior editor at The New Republic and a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His latest piece is called "Pakistan for Bush: July Surprise?"

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/07/09/144235