Pushing the panic button

[CHIMO]

OTTAWA — Sell off your airline shares and start investing in bottled water and skin creams. As terrorism hype goes into overdrive, frantic airline passengers are left wondering what is really at stake.

An orchestrated international alert this past Thursday to advise the world about the arrest of 26 alleged terrorists was supposed to inform and calm the public.

It certainly informed us. Within minutes of the initial British reports, U.S. President George Bush took to the airwaves to convince Americans that they were safer than ever after Sept. 11. He attributed that feeling of safety to the fantastic work of security forces working around the clock.

British politicians chimed in with a similar line and Canadian ministers Stockwell Day and Lawrence Cannon both held press conferences to inform the Canadian public about the terrorist threat.

http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Copps_Sheila/2006/08/12/1751772.html