Perfect example of the manipulation of the media in order to manipulate Congress in order to manipulate the public into thinking they are being made safe.

The White House dismissed as "outlandish" on Wednesday suggestions that it disclosed the capture [JAW---over a month ago] of a man suspected of planning a "dirty bomb" attack in order to help President Bush's homeland security plan and to deflect criticism of U.S. intelligence agencies.
....
Ashcroft raised eyebrows at the White House and elsewhere by his decision to announce Padilla's capture in a television appearance on Monday from Moscow, where he was on unrelated business, and his claim that U.S. officials had disrupted an "unfolding terrorist plot to attack the United States."