In a Pennsylvania suburb, during a town hall meeting, John McCain raised his own version of Bush’s pre-election fake terror alerts by saying that the extremists in Iraq might try a spectacular attack in order to influence the US elections, as Reuters reports.

Here we go again. When Bush ran against John Kerry in 2004, the terror alerts were going off at a frequency level comparable to horn-honking at Midtown in New York City during peak time. As Bush held on to his 2004 presidential internship, the “terror” alerts incidentally quieted down also. Two interesting questions emerge: did terror alerts go away because the terrorists were no longer presenting a threat after Bush won? Or were terror alerts fake to begin with?

Let’s start backwards by answering the second question. Were alerts fake? Well, probably YES, but we have no evidence one way or another. So let’s suspend our judgment for the time being. But what of the first question? Let’s suppose the answer is YES - the terrorists did quiet down and no longer presented threat to us. Is it because they were so afraid of George Bush that they all decided to renounce their animosity towards the US and go away…? Or is it because they were happy that George Bush got a 2nd term and they gladly went back to their offices to resume accepting new applications for Al Queda’s employment opportunities? I think the latter explanation is the one more consistent with the truth.

During Bush’s “War on Terror”, which makes as much sense as “war on crime”, “war on cancer” or “war on education”, the recruitment rates for Al Queda skyrocketed. George Bush has been Bin Laden’s wet dream! Mr. Bin Laden must have speculated, and with precise accuracy, in advance of the 9/11 attacks what America’s response would be under Bush’s presidency. And he got it. The global terrorism increased sevenfold since the Iraq invasion and Bin Laden approval ratings went up in the Muslim World. So much for “winning hearts and minds”…

So is it true that Bin Laden and his associates want Obama/Clinton elected rather than John McCain? Well, if Bin Laden wants to see his recruitment rates and approval ratings plummet and his beard shaved by the good people in the United States as they prepare him for prosecution, then the answer is resoundingly YES! But if he wants to continue enjoying his jihadi lifestyle in the luxurious Torra Borra cave, then I’d expect him to cast his absentee ballot for John McCain on November 2nd, 2008. And while at it, perhaps even get on his ticket for 08′.