Cheney Aide Threatened Terror To Silence DoJ Lawyer

Prisonplanet | Sept. 5, 2007

By Paul Joseph Watson

Dick Cheney's former legal counsel David Addington threatened the consequence of mass terror attacks in order to silence Department of Justice lawyer Jack Goldsmith when he questioned the legality of the warrantless wiretapping program, according to Goldsmith's new book.

The Terror Presidency details how Bush administration officials dangled the fear of terror over critic's heads every time a whimper of dissent emerged over attempts to beef executive power.

David Addington is now Cheney's chief of staff and was once described by U.S. News and World Report as "the most powerful man you've never heard of." Immediately after 9/11, he pushed the argument that the NSA should be given carte blanche to wiretap purely domestic telephone calls and e-mails, a complete violation of the 4th Amendment. When Goldsmith cautioned that the NSA eavesdropping program was a potential violation of the FISA court, shortly before controversy about the issue erupted in the media, Addington scorned him with the threat of a new 9/11, screeching, “We’re one bomb away from getting rid of that obnoxious [FISA] court."

Likewise, when Goldsmith raised questions about another administration policy, Addington rebuked him with vitriol, stating, “If you rule that way, the blood of the hundred thousand people who die in the next attack will be on your hands.”

Addington was basically threatening the consequence of terror if Goldsmith erected any roadblocks to stymie the Neo-Con's political agenda - using the threat of terror to achieve a political objective - which is the very definition of terrorism.

The definition of terrorism according to Dictionary.com is "The use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes." Another definition is "A terroristic method of governing." Addington's rhetoric conforms to both those definitions.

The fact that Addington used terroristic threats as a means of intimidating critics lends all the more intrigue to his comments that were made in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attack.

Addington's first reaction to the collapse of the twin towers was that they must have been "charged" with explosives, according to Dick Cheney's official biography.