Posted on 10/23/2006 9:24:34 AM PDT by Valin
Why haven't there been more Islamic terrorist attacks in the United States since September 11, 2001? Just one such attack, of any magnitude, would have been hailed as a great victory for al Qaeda, and Islamic terrorists in general. Considering the large number of Moslems saying they agree with Islamic terrorism, and the thousands who have volunteered for such suicide attacks all over the world, you would have thought at least one such attack would have taken place in the U.S. since 2001. It's easy enough to obtain a gun or explosives in the United States. There are many states where it's legal to sell large firecrackers that non-Moslems have assembled into credible bombs. An explosive vest can easily be made. On the Internet there are instructions, in Arabic, for how to make a detonator. Gunpowder is easily obtained as well, and you can still buy large quantities of fertilizer, to make a really large bomb. There is still easy access to the outsides of many prominent structures. You can kill lots of people in such places and make your point. The means are there, but where are the people with the will?
Part of the reason is the 5,000 Islamic terrorists the CIA has been taken out of circulation (by death or arrest) since 2001. Even more have been taken out of circulation by other nations. The FBI has had less success inside the United States, arresting fewer than a thousand people, and successfully prosecuting about 230. But this FBI activity has apparently sent a message to potential Islamic terrorists in the United States, and scared many of them off.
Another reason is the informant network established within the Moslem-American community. For every suspected Islamic terrorist arrested in the United States, some ten Moslem-Americans have joined the military, FBI, CIA and similar organizations involved in the war on terror. While many Moslem-Americans oppose the invasion in Iraq, very few of them support Islamic terrorism. All this is not really new. Even the September 11, 2001 terrorists were warned to stay away from Arab-American communities, because of the number of people there who would call the cops if they suspected there were terrorists in their midst.
Since September 11, 2001, it's been a hassle to be an Arab, or anyone from South Asia or the Middle East, anywhere inside the United States. If you look "Middle Eastern," you get extra attention. As long as this kind of heat is on, potential Islamic terrorists apparently feel the odds are too much against them to risk an attack. It's also noted that convicted terrorists tend to get life sentences, to be served in very austere, maximum security prisons.
It's also been harder to get a visa to enter the United States, although this is somewhat moot because a determined terrorist can still hire a professional people smuggler to get him in via Mexico, or even Canada. Thus one must credit increased alertness of all Americans, and especially those in Moslem-American communities, for doing the most to prevent another attack. But the alertness is already beginning to fade, and the potential for another attack remains.
This is not suprising because American Muslims know that if another attack ever does happen to America, the non-Muslims will rightfully respond in angry backlash against the Muslim community so they, the latter is going proactive.
What about the shootings at the El AL Counter, Synagogue shootings, and the Islamofascists running people over?
Not disparaging the article, but those attacks have to be factored into the equation somehow.
Gee. What a novel idea.
"Mr. Rodenberry, why are there no Muslims on Star Trek?"
I think the reason they haven't had a return engagement is that they are getting the message that that one more, and they will all be either strung up or forced to leave. Instead, outfits like CAIR have been assigned to peck us to death.
Most likely viewed as sudden jihad action.
It seems to me that we still have an alarming shortfall of Arab speakers available to the intelligence community, and an enourmous backlog of intercepted communication to be translated. I profess no intimate knowldege of this area, but it seems to this casual observer that if the Muslim community really were significantly interested in stopping Islamic terror, we would have a shortage of material for them to translate.
That's easy: Because Bush had the guts to try and fight them and prevent any more major attacks from happening.
I think this may be BS. It may be that we have not had an attack because, after 9/11, anything smaller would be seen by the Muzzies as an anti-climactic failure.
the non-Muslims will rightfully respond in angry backlash against the Muslim community
Excuse me?? "Rightfully??" It would be "rightful" for non-Muslims to attack innocent bystanders in retaliation for a terrorist attack?? What country are you talking about? Seriously, retaliation against American Muslims would probably happen, but that retaliation would be a criminal act, deserving of punishment to the full extent of applicable laws. I can't believe any thoughtful American would call it "rightful."
there are no moslems in the future.
I wouldn't say "rightfully" for blaming a whole people for what a small proportion of radicals do (it would be like blaming all Anglos in Oklahoma for McVeigh's OKC bombing...). The majority of Muslims reject all such definitions of jihad. Unfortunately, they are too easily lumped with the others.
Because Star Trek is in the future.
Because..."Star Trek" takes place in the future.
Anyone, Muslim or not, can go off like that. The difference between that and an attack carried out by Al Qaeda is the planning and coordinating that an Al Qaeda attack usually brings. We will always have lone gunmen who will have any number of motivations for choosing their targets.
So individual acts by individual IFs are not acts of terrorism?
Their surprise and fear of the strong US response should be factored into any judgement about why no further attacks on US soil have occurred.
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