Pacific Views

Upgrading the terrorism scare level?

We woke up this morning to a radio report about CIA director George Tenet's newest warning about the continuing threat posed by al-Qaida. What stood out in that story was this quote from Tenet:

[W]hat we've learned continues to validate my deepest concern - that this enemy remains intent on obtaining and using catastrophic weapons.

'Catastrophic' weapons? What happened to 'weapons of mass destruction'?

We immediately turned to Google and did some searches on the phrase 'catastrophic weapons.' When we did a regular Google search, we came up with a bit over 500 hits, but most of those were from 2002 and earlier, with many dating back to the Clinton years. But when we did a Google News search, we got just 17 hits. And here's what's interesting: ALL of the hits were from today, linking to stories about Tenet's al-Qaida warning.

So what we're wondering is whether the administration is shifting to a new term, 'catastrophic weapons,' as a way of making their litany of threats sound more frightening to the US public? Given that the term WMD only reminds people that they've been lied to, it would make sense if the administration started using a new word for the same old weapons, hoping sleight of hand will keep the public nervous and help Dubya's sagging approval ratings. If this is the case, some Googling should show the new trend quickly.

And we'll know for sure that 'catastrophic weapons' has replaced WMDs as the official term if Fox News starts using it.