More intelligence problems

The Australian government isn't happy with us right now. Apparently, when we announced that there was intelligence to indicate that al Qaeda might be planning another 9/11-style attack, we said that Australia might be one of the potential targets. Australia says the intelligence doesn't indicate that they might be a target at all.

Australian Attorney-General Daryl Williams said intelligence indicated the country could be used as a base for an attack on the United States or elsewhere, but said the new U.S. warning that it could be a target was ''not an accurate reflection of the intelligence.''

He was speaking on the sidelines of a 2003 Homeland Security Conference.

Williams said U.S. authorities had promised Australia a correction to the advisory that warned the airline industry that al Qaeda was planning new suicide hijackings and bombings.

There is a downside, though, to having to make a retraction like this - some people may end up feeling like this is another episode of "crying wolf" in order to distract us. I doubt it'll have that kind of an effect on me, largely because I'm already concerned that it's an episode of "crying wolf", though I'm do consider it serious enough that I'm at least glad I can't go flying off anywhere ths summer (though if I could, I don't know if I'd go ahead and go or not...)