Lately there seems to be a barrage of "threats" coming from the agencies to warn the public of attacks. Not unlike the daily weather forecast. These announcements are to only produce fear so support for the "war" can proceed unmitigated.

Compare these two quotes. One is from Donald Rumsfeld and the other from George Orwell, "1984"

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"I'm sure there will not be a signing ceremony on the Missouri, as such.
This is not something that begins with a significant event or ends with a
significant event. It is something that will involve a sustained effort
over a good period of time. It is not going to be over in five minutes or
five months, it'll take years, I suspect. The public may see some dramatic
military engagements that produce no apparent victory, or may be unaware
of other actions that lead to major victories. Forget about 'exit
strategies'; we're looking at a sustained engagement that carries no
deadlines."

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, September 2001

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"To understand the nature of the present war - for in spite of the
regrouping which occurs every few years, it is always the same war - one
must realize in the first place that it is impossible for it to be
decisive...It is also necessary that [the Party member] should be a
credulous and ignorant fanatic whose prevailing moods are fear, hatred,
adulation, and orgiastic triumph. In other words it is necessary that he
should have the mentality appropriate to a state of war. It does not
matter whether the war is actually happening, and, since no decisive
victory is possible, it does not matter whether the war is going well or
badly. All that is needed is that a state of war should exist."

George Orwell, "1984"