Saturday, August 7, 2010

Stopping Homegrown Terrorism - Pipe Dream or Pipe Bomb?

If the car bomb hadn't been a dud, there would have been many dead tourists and a crater in Times Square. But Faisal Shahzad was not good at the art of bomb making. If he had taken just a few more lessons on the Internet, things might have been different. The American citizen, originally from Pakistan, left his crude homemade bomb smoking in an SUV in Times Square in May. While counterterrorism authorities tried to claim some sort of victory for the failed bombing, even though quick response by New York city police would not have stopped a more skilled terrorist, the case highlighted how difficult it is to find terror suspects in the U.S. Authorities repeatedly pointed out that Shahzad had not come to the attention of any counterterrorism investigators prior to the Times Square attempt.

Since 2009, over thirty American citizens have been arrested on federal charges related to Islamist extremism. Fourteen people, including seven U.S. citizens, were charged this week with trying to join a Somali terrorist group allied with al-Qaeda, and were tied to two deadly bombings in Uganda. The Justice Department said in a statement that they were charged with trying to join or provide support to the group, known as al-Shabab. They were indicted in Minnesota, Alabama and California.

“Somebody's going to get through,” a counterterrorism expert told Newsweek in June. He chose to remain anonymous, but he is not alone in his fears. In New York City and throughout the country, there is an inevitable sense of impending danger among law enforcement officials. But, although Republicans accuse the Obama administration of being soft on terrorism, there has not been a major successful attack on American soil since 9/11.

Many top officials and politicians are saying that the U.S. will be attacked again, and it will be soon. “We must be honest with ourselves,” said John Brennan, the President's top counterterrorism advisor, on May 26. “No nation, no matter how powerful, can prevent every threat from coming to fruition.” He pointed out that the U.S. is more susceptible to attack because the terrorists can take advantage of our free and open society and rely on the so-called “lone wolves” and self-radicalized terrorists.

Attorney General Eric Holder is quick to dismiss this kind of speculation. After the indictments this week in Minnesota, Alabama and California, he said: “These arrests and charges should serve as an unmistakable warning to others who are considering joining or supporting terrorist groups like al-Shabab. If you choose this group, you can expect to find yourself in a United States jail cell or to be a casualty on a Somali battlefield.”

It will take more than tough words from the Attorney General to stop what many think is an inevitable attack on American soil. Although most American Muslims have no interest in extremist ideology and don't want to be stereotyped, the very act of treating them as potential enemies could make matters worse. Some impressionable Muslims decide to join terrorist organizations after reading or listening to English-speaking al-Qaeda propaganda on the Internet. And although conservatives continue to portray Obama as soft on terrorism, his administration continues to kill al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia. Since Obama took office in 2009, the military and the CIA have launched over 100 drone attacks against al-Quaeda and the Taliban, more than twice as many as President Bush had ordered during his entire second term.

There is some evidence that these remote-control drone attacks risk what the intelligence community calls “blowback.” Terror suspects have repeatedly told investigators that they were at least partly motivated by the desire to seek revenge for drone strikes. Any military action in a foreign country has consequences. Because the Internet has made it possible for terrorists around the world to be recruited, Western Muslims seeking to bring jihad to America are more common than ever.

Attorney General Holder continued to speak of this week's indictment of the fourteen al-Shabab recruits. “We are seeing an increasing number of individuals – including U.S. citizens – who have become captivated by extremist ideology,” Holder said. “It's a disturbing trend that we have been investigating in recent years and will continue to investigate and root out. But we must also work to prevent this type of radicalization from ever taking hold.”

But is it possible to prevent this type of radicalization from ever taking hold? Most Americans think this is just a pipe dream. President Obama clearly has no inclination to stop killing terrorists with unmanned drones, even if it means killing a few civilians. We may have to deal with the “blowback” sooner rather than later.

29 comments:

  1. You are talking a lot of sense here. This matter should very carefully dealt with

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  2. Definitely a pipe dream...But hopefully Obama's luck can hold out until the next election.

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  3. It makes us think twice about going into crowded tourist attractions. The next target of a terrorist attack could be anything from a crowded shopping mall to a sports stadium. We can't stop going out, though, so we put our faith in law enforcement and hope for the best. The Obama administration is very lucky that they have so far dodged the bullet. How long can this luck last? The Times Square bomb suspect is the forerunner to a smarter, computer-savvy terrorist who will stop at nothing.

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  4. Interesting... Blowback is serious business

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  5. Obama is tough on terrorism. Good for him. The drones have been taking out top-level terrorists and saving I don't know how many lives. The credit should go to Obama for keeping watch on our safe borders. He's got my vote in '12. Of course, if there is a terrorist attack, I reserve my right to change my mind.

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  6. There is no easy way to fight a war. Especially one where we don't know what the enemy looks like or where he lives.

    Homegrown terrorists are a growing concern as we try to figure out whether this terror thing is actually supposed to be called a war.

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  7. Let's face it, we're doomed. Can't we all just get along?

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  8. People in this country have a short memory, and tend to become complacent if they they aren't constantly reminded of the danger. Every time we hear about a thwarted terror attempt, there is an outcry - for a day or two. Then, it's business as usual. What will it take for Americans to realize this is a serious threat without another 9/11 level attack? Regardless, can the government stop it?

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  9. Eric Holder sounds a little optimistic. In a free society we can't prevent the inevitable. This is an excellent overview of the situation.

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  10. When there is another big attack like 9/11, I worry that we may overreact, causing an escalation of terrorist activity.

    The rules of war have changed since I was a kid. Now my neighbor could be my enemy.

    Yes, sooner rather than later we will have to react to a homegrown attack. Hopefully we'll emerge stronger and with more ability to fight this new kind of enemy. I just don't know how.

    Obama is extremely fortunate that he hasn't had to deal with a major attack. If his luck continues, he will win a second term. If he does win again, the odds will catch up to him, and he'll have to deal with another 9/11 type of attack. Only this time it will be different - maybe a subway or theme park.

    For the time being, I'm staying away from large crowds. This is where we're most vulnerable. The police can only do so much. This is a big country. Luckily I don't live in New York City, because that seems to be the biggest target.

    Of course, lets not forget Timothy McVeigh. He was a different type of terrorist altogether.

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  11. I don't want to go out in public

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  12. American aid workers killed in Afghanistan. It's only a matter of time before more people killed on American soil.

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  13. to think obama is keep us safe is a pipe dream

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  14. Obama should be given some credit. He has shown he's not soft on terrorism.

    The unmanned drone attacks are controversial, but there's no denying that they have killed many high-level terrorists.

    Obama is up to his ears in the economy, health-care and other domestic issues, but the most important one is homeland security. So far so good.

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  15. This is a sobering topic. I hate to say this, but I'd rather not think about it. I keep the TV on ESPN.

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  16. I'm sure we are doing a lot more than sending drones. A lot of what goes on happens without our knowledge. There must be a reason there have been no attack. The government is tapping phones, warrantless searches, racial profiling, etc. We are hitting the enemy with every angle. It is making it hard for them to succeed. But not impossible. We have one thing to be thankful for. Things could be worse.

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  17. We must rethink the strategy of using unmanned drones.

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  18. I hate to think of the Republicans running things.

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  19. I think that US Drone Attacks are no different than a terrorist blowing up a wedding and killing 100's...

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  20. The Drone attacks are worse than Waterboarding.

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  21. There have been thousands of terrorist attacks worldwide. The U.S. is the terrorist's favorite target. There are many ongoing plots going on at any given time.

    Don't forget that the 9/11 hijackers had come to the FBI's Arizona office prior to the attack. They were taking flight lessons, but didn't want to learn how to take off or land.

    Suspicious activities have gone overlooked in the past, but it seems that we're being more vigilent. Authorities are asking the public to be vigilent. In the Times Square attack, it was a street vendor who contacted police. But as we know today, the bomb was a dud anyway. If it had been properly put together, the police couldn't have made it in time.

    We all need to be vigilent. But let's not forget that a well-planned attack may sometime cause a lot of damage. It's amazing we've been so lucky so far. Some say we make our own luck. I hope so. And I do hope it continues.

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  22. The experts are right. Somebody is going to get through. Hopefully we can keep these lunatics working alone (lone wolves) instead of in coordinated attacks like 9/11. As long as we can keep them from being able to coordinate things on a large scale, and we disrpupt their infrastructure, we should be able to keep things small. The Fort Hood shooter fits the description of a lone wolf, but he alone couldn't cause a large-scale catastrophe. The Times Square bomber, on the other hand, could have caused much damage, and he was primarily working alone, so there goes my theory. But the main thing is, keep them from being able to train and execute a large-scale attack like 9/11. The odds of that happening again in the U.S. are small if we keep vigilant. The new vigilance calls for everyone to keep an eye out. These days it's important to report any suspicious activity. Not that it would have helped in Times Square if the bomber had been more competant, but the police were notified promptly by civilians, so it shows that the attitudes about our safety has changed in America. Everyone must be on guard. Without this type of vigilance, there would be no way to be even remotely safe.

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  23. NATA air strike kills at least a dozen Afghan civilians. This type of thing has to stop. What happened to the Geneva Convention?

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  24. One other thing I was wondering. If we pull out of Iraq by 2011, what's going to happen considering the recent events there?

    A suicide bomber yesterday killed 40-plus army recruits. The country is going to be in big trouble without the U.S. helping.

    News commentators are speculating that Iraq will request a longer U.S. prescence. If that's the case, we won't have a choice, but the military is already strethched thin and it's time to move on.

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  25. and now we're pulling combat troops out of Iraq...all that's left are peacekeeping forces...next year we'll be gone for good...but will the world be a safer place?

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  26. I think the guy got life in prison...In civilian courts.

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