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Fire Escape Partners
3465 25th Street, Suite 17
San Francisco, CA 94110 | (noun)
[SPEK-tahr] 
1. a ghostly presence or apparition; a ghost; a phantom
2. a haunting threat or prospect: "Despite the specter of terrorism in Israel, Rachel was not going to miss her niece's wedding."
Origin:
Approximately 1605; borrowed from French, 'spectre': an image, a ghost; from Latin, 'spectrum': appearance, vision, apparition, from 'specere': to look at. In action:
"A global assessment of fresh water conducted in 1997 by the U.N. concluded that one-third of the world lives in countries that find it difficult or impossible to meet their water needs. This raises the specter of an ever-increasing number of armed conflicts over water resources. In addition, since agriculture typically uses about two-thirds of a country's water, and tends to be a politically weak sector, governments hoping to conserve water look to farms first, leading inevitably to reduced food supplies in regions that are already hard hit."
Hillary Mayell. "Green Group Gives Earth Failing Report Card," National Geographic News (January 10, 2002).
"Citing Saddam Hussein's perfidy and the approach of Ramadan, an embattled President Clinton Wednesday hurled scores of cruise missiles at Iraq. An important unspoken factor in his equation, however, was the specter of a revolt in U.S. military ranks if he pulled back from an attack once again.
Almost exactly one month ago, the president sent forth an immense American naval and air armada to attack Iraq, citing Saddam's refusal to cooperate with United Nations inspectors looking for evidence of Iraq's covert nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs.
Then, as now, Clinton declared Saddam's obstinacy 'unacceptable.' Then he pulled back. This time he attacked."
Jeff Stein. "The few, the proud, the relieved," [President Clinton risked a revolt within the military if he pulled back from the brink with the Iraq once again.] Salon.com (December 17, 1998).
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