Homeland Insecurity

AP: U.S. Didn't Warn Las Vegas of Threat

Imagine my surprise when I read the first paragraph of this horrifying article:

A year after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Justice Department obtained video surveillance tapes suggesting terrorists were targeting Las Vegas casinos but authorities never alerted the public as they discussed whether a warning might hurt tourism or increase the casinos' legal liability, internal memos show.

Authorities didn't warn the public for WHAT REASONS?

The mayor of Las Vegas said Monday he was never told about the tapes uncovered in Detroit and Spain in 2002, and had been assured by the FBI there were no credible threats against his city. "If I were told, I would certainly tell the public," Mayor Oscar Goodman said.

Well of course you would. You're the mayor of Las Vegas, and it's your job to make sure residents and visitors remain safe. That's your priority, right? I feel so much better.

Or maybe not: One document quotes a federal prosecutor in Las Vegas as saying the mayor was concerned about the "deleterious effect on the Las Vegas tourism industry" if the Detroit evidence became public.

How about the "deleterious effect" on your elected position, you gin-swilling ass? You worried about that at all?

Never mind. At least you can count on the casinos to stay informed. After all, why would casino management invite disaster by sticking their heads in the sand?

Another memo states the casinos didn't want to see the footage for fear it would make them more likely to be held liable in civil court if an attack occurred.

WTF?

The [FBI] prosecutor said he later asked a Las Vegas police officer, who had seen the tape and flown to Detroit to help, why more wasn't done. "This officer told me that the amount of money that travels through Las Vegas on a daily, weekly and monthly basis - if something doesn't go boom, nothing is going to be done," he said.

"Go boom." What a cute way to talk about the death and injury of hundreds - maybe thousands - of people.

Of course, the mayor and spokespeople for the casinos in question (Excalibur, MGM and New York-New York) are denying all this. But the agent who found the tapes and brought them to my fair city's attention begged they be taken seriously, documented by e-mails to our local FBI office.

"While I understand your previously stated concerns that the mayor of Las Vegas, the local sheriff and others believe our indictment may temporarily have a deleterious effect on the Las Vegas tourism industry, it is unconscionable that any reasonable person would assert that anyone here possessed a cavalier attitude toward the tape," Convertino wrote.

So let me try to get this straight: The headline stated that the U.S. didn't warn Vegas. But the article really says that Mayor Goodman and the casinos were warned (though they deny this) and didn't pass the info along for fear of a financial impact on the city?

Personally, I believe the FBI account. I live here, and the action (or inaction) of the mayor and the casinos just rings far too true for me. Yes, we have a lot of money going through this city. Mandalay Resort Group and MGM-Mirage have performed quite nicely for their shareholders. And the mayor is nothing more than a cheerleader in expensive suits. Why expect the truth - when the truth would darken their rosy picture?

In the next few days, if anything more is written about this, I hope Goodman & Co. prove me wrong. I, who have a life here, and a son, and people I love very much, want to be proven wrong.

UPDATE: Here's something else: shame on AP for the misleading headline.