Why has U.S. been spared?

Orlando Sentinel ^ | 08 July 2005 | Peter A. Brown

[Lando Lincoln]

The London bombing once again begs the question: Why haven't terrorists struck the United States in the past four years?

Certainly the effects of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks are still felt by Americans.

Unfortunately, terrorists have succeeded in changing how we live our daily lives.

Americans worry more about being blown up now than when thousands of Soviet ICBMs with multiple nuclear warheads were pointed at the United States.

These days, we live under the constant fear of being the next victim of a random act, a mentality that makes us more fearful and less generous to strangers and forces changes in behavior that cost us all time and money.

Nonetheless, it is useful to ponder why the bad guys haven't struck within the United States itself since 9-11.

It certainly is not because Osama & Co. hate us less than they once did.

[Lando Lincoln]

I will answer my own rhetorical thread, I hope. We have not been spared....the attack yesterday was on a civilized people, upon our staunchest ally. We have thousands of our sons and daughters in harms way. We have incurred numerous blows to our economy. We are inconvenienced in what should be our mundane lives. My young sons - soon to turn thirteen - wonder what the world will be like in their adulthood. And, since they are rather well attuned for their age, I suspect they wonder what will be asked of them. We all wonder when the next event will occur and to what measure. We have leftist politicians posturing to our great peril and preying on the ill-informed.

We have not been spared.

Lando

[wtc911]

I believe attacks have been stopped by arresting people.

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Friends and associates involved in anti-terror LEO on both local and federal level oddly do not use the word "arrested"....they invariably say picked-up, taken-in or removed from circulation, but never arrested...draw your own conclusions.

[Gideon7]

People under 30 have no clue how dangerous and serious the Cold War really was.

[oh8eleven]

...and as each day goes by without any sign of Osama bin Laden I sometimes wonder if the U.S. hasn't reached out and cut a deal with him or his surrogates.

Spoken like a true Canadian.

[null and void]

Oooooooo, I like the conclusions I'm drawing...

[mlc9852]

I remember. I lived in South Florida and was in elementary school and they had us scared to death! We had drills and they made us get under our desks. Looking back it's laughable - yeah, the nukes are headed to Miami - get under your desk. But it was a very frightening time, especially for children.

[Bernard Marx]

About 8 years elapsed between the two attacks on the World Trade Center. Americans are easily lulled into a false sense of complacency. The Jihadists know this and bide their time. We're sitting ducks until the borders are secured and there's more focus on profiling instead of unionization and multiculturalism of security personnel.

[LtKerst]

Nonetheless, it is useful to ponder why the bad guys haven't struck within the United States itself since 9-11

Perhaps President Bush has sent Ossama a message with the
GPS coordinates of Mecca and a Nuclear radiation symbol?

[wtc911]

Here you write: "I've wondered about this myself, and as each day goes by without any sign of Osama bin Laden I sometimes wonder if the U.S. hasn't reached out and cut a deal with him or his surrogates."

On another thread you implied that you believe that the WOT is being prolonged by us for corporate purposes.

Cut a deal with OBL? Where do people like you come from?

I find both your implications worthy of a call-in to Air America and about as rational. I think that you can take the girl out of Canada but it is clear that you can't take Canada out of the girl.

[null and void]

I was in elemetary school at MCAS Beaufort during the Cuban Missile Crisis. It's a bit worse when you know you really are a target!

[CCCnative]

I think we have been spared because the islamderthals have something extra special planned for us and the timing isn't right yet.

I was just taking a walk at work thinkin' about this. I think they are waiting for the USA to rot from the inside. If the lefties get in power in the government again they'll know the time is right.

[MediaMole]

Apart from foiling the millennium attack, those were all overseas. And while you can argue that our embassy is American soil, it is still not in the CONUS.

One of the primary reasons why there aren't more attacks in the US is because there aren't large groups of non-American muslims living on the dole. European governments effectively pay dissaffected muslim men to sit around and nurse their grudges.

al gaeda has to recruit terrorists overseas, smuggle them into the US and then stage the attack. Despite the massive problems with our borders, that is still difficult -- especially if the terrorists have to be able to travel and control enough money to do their nefarious business.

One other issue is the difficulty in obtaining explosives. Since the first WTC attack and OKC, explosives controls have been very effective. No middle eastern male is going to be able to walk into a rural feed store and buy a truckload of ammonium nitrate to "fertilize his crops."

[wtc911]

These don't count as attacks or potential ones on American soil?: 1993 (Oct.): Killing of U.S. soldiers in Somalia. 1996 (June): Truck bombing at Khobar Towers barracks in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, killed 19 Americans. 1998 (Aug.): Bombing of U.S. embassies in East Africa; 224 killed, including 12 Americans. 1999 (Dec.): Plot to bomb millennium celebrations in Seattle foiled when customs agents arrest an Algerian smuggling explosives into the U.S. 2000 (Oct.): Bombing of the USS Cole in port in Yemen; 17 U.S. sailors killed

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This canadian clown also suggested that we had cut a deal with OBL. What is it with Canadians?

[bayourod]

"Because we've aggressively pursued illegal aliens and controlled our borders? "

Just because we haven't made catching Mexican gardeners and babysitters the top priority of our government doesn't mean we aren't employing extreme measures to keep terrorists from crossing the borders.

We don't know the entire story but we do know of some of the ways that Mexico is cooperating with the U.S. government to provide a buffer between us and terrorists.

There are American CBP agents stationed at every Mexican airport checking on who is flying into Mexico. Our Coast Guard is allowed to patrol in Mexican waters and board ships to inspect for WMDs and suspected terrorists. CBP agents are stationed at every Mexican seaport to check passengers and cargoes.

American agents are working with Mexican border guards on their Southern border to keep terrorists from crossing into Mexico. American law enforcement officers are working with Mexican LEOs in Mexico city and throughout Mexico to search out suspected terrorist cells. We have agents working across the border in cities out of which coyotes operate

Plus we have CBP agents stationed all over the world at airports and seaports checking on who departs for the Western hemisphere.

Only the Antis are naive enough to believe that the way to stop terrorists is to put up a silly little fence on the border. But then their real objective is to stop Mexicans, not terrorists. They were whining for a fence before 9/11.

[i_dont_chat]

Nonetheless, it is useful to ponder why the bad guys haven't struck within the United States itself since 9-11.

Because you don't pull on Superman's cape; you don't spit into the wind.

[jpl]

I think it's part increased diligence (catching these guys and sending them to Gitmo has helped a lot), and part luck. Remember, the shoe-bomber was a very close call. If he hadn't been such a complete moron, that would have been another successful attack after 9/11.

[null and void]

I find both your implications worthy of a call-in to Air America and about as rational. I think that you can take the girl out of Canada but it is clear that you can't take Canada out of the girl.

You shoulda heard the called to Coast to Coast AM last night. Whiny little snivel from Canada, claimed to be ex Canandian military (Canada has a military? Who knew?) If he's the best they've got, they are in realllll trouble.

[MarkL]

Possibly because the Islamicists have realized that attacking the US was counterproductive to their cause.

Exactly... In his memoirs, General Giap admitted that the North Vietnamese Army could have never beaten the US and ARVN forces on the battlefield. He simply had to hold out until the American left and war protestors forced political change, and for the US to abandon the war. Once the US had pulled out of Viet Nam, the north was free to break the agreements they had made, and invade the south. It also allowed the "Killing Fields" of Cambodia to take place, but that's another story.

I believe that you're 100% correct. If the US were attacked again, it would help minimize or even destroy the anti-war efforts here in the US. I mean, look at how even some of the pubbies are surrendering. They realize that all they need to do is wait us out, especially those idiots calling for a "timetable," where once the US pulls out due to political pressure (and failures), and if that happens, they declare that they've beaten the great satan, and we WILL be hit by terrorists, over and over again.

If the US were attacked again, there would be people screaming for action, and our pulling out would disappear from the options on the table. And I pray that one of those options is to get really brutal with them. To actually fight a war how it was meant to be fought: Until the enemy is completely defeated.

Mark

[null and void]

Well! I feeeeeeeel better!

[Tolik]

I fear we don't know enough to tell why we have not been attacked. While some things were done, there are obvious gaps, like borders, no small matter at all.

We can speculate that they wanted to strike America on spectacular scale, and simply are not ready yet.

Or that their timeline is a bit more relaxed than our 24-hour news cycle. Meaning they will hit us, just later.

After each event like London, Madrid, Bali and numerous in Israel, looking at our vulnerability is painful.

On another hand, listening to Richard Miniter (http://www.richardminiter.com/articles/index.html) many our success are simply not publicized enough: they are not secret, but the MSM is not interested to amplify them. In a recent radio interview he mentioned large numbers of terrorists killed or captured throughout the world with the help of more than 100 !!! governments. So the enemy network is sufficiently disrupted.

I hope I can be as optimistic as he is.