Who's on First?

If you experienced a little cognitive dissonance when John Ashcroft announced that "credible intelligence from multiple sources" indicated that al Qaeda is planning an attack in the US in the next few months and later in the same news cycle Tom Ridge said that the information didn't justify raising the alert level from yellow to orange, you're apparently not alone.

From this morning's Wall Street Journal (subscription):

The different conclusions and poor communications are symptomatic of turf battles that have emerged since Homeland Security was created a little more than a year ago. Those battles are a growing source of concern to some in Congress and the administration, who worry that the lack of consensus between the two departments sends mixed signals that undermine the credibility of the terror-alert system and the government's ability to make people vigilant. One administration official said yesterday that Homeland Security is suffering from "growing pains" as it sorts out its role in the administration.

[snip]

Wednesday was not the first time that the two agencies have come to different conclusions on whether to warn the public of a terrorist threat. On March 24, the FBI issued a warning to law-enforcement agencies and industry officials about a potential terrorist threat to Texas oil refineries. But Homeland Security did not participate. In April, Rep. Cox and Rep. Jim Gibbons (R., Nevada), wrote Mr. Ridge to ask why his department and the FBI did not issue a joint threat advisory.

Mr. Ridge's office responded last week that prior to the FBI's March 24 warning, it had reviewed the intelligence and "deemed the information regarding this issue to be of little credibility." The FBI, however, went ahead and issued its advisory. The letter to Rep. Cox also stated that at this time there is no "formal Memorandum of Understanding between DHS and the FBI with respect to the issuance of advisories."

That's right... "no formal Memorandum of Understanding." It appears that BushCo. comes to a complete halt if the paperwork is not done; but as long as the paperwork is properly completed and filed, the job's done. Think back to Condoleeza Rice's testimony before the 9/11 Commission; she wrote all the right memos, gave all the required briefings - she did all she could.

This administration is coming apart at the seams. Inernicine sniping and back stabbing - while likely happening for a while now - is becoming embarrassingly public. If it were just a matter of BushCo. self-destructing right before an election, I would be overjoyed. Unfortunately as we've seen over the past several months, it's becoming dangerous. If the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security are not coordinating on the release of warnings, what else are they not talking about?