On The Third Hand

17 December, 2001: "In defense of Tom Ridge"

I have acquired a certain admiration for Tom Ridge. He is a realist, and seems to be one of the few government officials who thinks the people should be told whatever the government can tell, and be trusted not to panic. He gets a lot of flack because he lets out vague warnings, but he really cannot do anything else in public. It works like this: if the government has good knowledge that (for instance) waste-treatment plants are targeted, they cannot announce that in public, because there may be other targets they do not know about. If they announce that they know about one, any terrorists will know what the government does not know. They will then know they can "safely" attack those other targets. So he gives vague warnings, and puts up with the complaints. He does what he can, and follows the ancient advice of "first, do no harm". Give him a break, and if he says "alert", be on alert!

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