"Too funny. It was a BOMB! It makes lots of noise and destroys things and people. Do you think the mooselimbs involved aren't expecting the press to talk about it and the FBI to come knocking on the mosque doors?!"
I think there is also an information war with terrorists with regard to their ability to use our media as a propaganda tool. The message that has been sent, probably over and over, is that unless they succeed spectacularly, they will get NO credit, no publicity, no reaction from the american and european public.
Call me crazy, but I believe that if only a single plane had been hijacked in 2001 and flown into the wtc tower (one of them), there would at least have been some effort to downplay the terrorist angle at first. I am not sure they could have but they darn sure would have tried. Maybe another suicidal pilot?
"Call me crazy, but I believe that if only a single plane had been hijacked in 2001 and flown into the wtc tower (one of them), there would at least have been some effort to downplay the terrorist angle at first."
You're not crazy at all. I caught the 9/11 coverage just after the first plane hit and at that point they were talking accident. It all changed after the second one went into the second building so deliberately. Once the Pentagon got hit, everyone knew. If the terrorists had stopped at the first one, it probably still would be referred to as an accident today.
"The message that has been sent, probably over and over, is that unless they succeed spectacularly, they will get NO credit, no publicity, no reaction from the american and european public."
I tend to believe that. One reason is that, apparently, no similar approach exists in England, where unsuccessful attempts to bomb buses got lots of coverage.