Bombing Attempt at Fountain Place in Downtown Dallas

[Liberty]

Is anyone keeping count of the FBI apprehensions of suspected terrorists in the U.S. in the past 5 days? I count 4:

1. Dallas(Wells Fargo Bank)
2. New York/Colorado(who knows where)
3. Illinois (Courthouse)
4. Virgina (not sure of specifics)

It's getting scary. As Arnold says: "Be safe out there !"

The war on terror will not be short. The enemey is on the move right now, but they always are. Unsecured borders are a part of the problem, as are a myriad of other issues. The murders of 9/11 will not be the last innocent deaths in the war, we just have to keep our guard up, probably forever, because we're unwilling to take the necessary action to end the confrontation.

Maybe its me, but considering how easy it is to try to do these things, It sounds like we are doing a pretty good job of stopping them.. Sounds like the FBI has been watching this guy for a long time.

[snorri]

I though they said we wouldn't have to fight them over here.

[Liberty]

I though they said we wouldn't have to fight them over here.

The blood shed here since 9-11 hasn't been anything like its been in Afghanastan or Iraq. This event looks like good old fashioned police work.

[stroo]

My wife flew home from North Carolina today. She said security in the airports was at a really heightened level. Sounds to me like they are still looking for some folks.

[USA1]

acts of terrorism.

don't forget , this is the new kinder gentler United States .

we now call it "man caused disaster"

[DEADEYE1964]

His cousin, Hussein Obama will be inviting him to the white house for a beer.

[Keith B]

My wife flew home from North Carolina today. She said security in the airports was at a really heightened level. Sounds to me like they are still looking for some folks.

They will ALWAYS be looking for folks. Unfortunately this is the world we now live in today. However, it is not new.

I have some very close ties to the counter-terrorism community. Osama Bin Laden and Al Queda has been a thorn in the world security groups side since way before 9/11. As for attacks against the U.S., think back to the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the late '90's embassy bombings, and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole. These were all acts of terrorism tied to al-Queda. There are also those attacks that were thwarted by good intelligence, surveillance, and law enforcement work, like the plot to blow up multiple international airline flights during Y2K, and cell in London who were going to bring various individual chemicals separately on board the planes and mix them to make their bombs right on board. That last one lead to the 3oz of liquid regulation we now have on the airlines.

Other countries have lived the issue of terrorism for years (Israel and Ireland to name two.) Although the counter-terrorism community does an extremely good job of keeping the terrorists on the run, we have just been very lucky previously. As a country and working with the rest of the world, we have to keep our guard up, follow every possible lead, and do everything we can to put the pieces of the puzzle together. This will hopefully allow the teams to bust them before another attack happens. Unfortunately, where there is a will, there is usually a way, and it is not going to be a matter of IF they are able to wage another attack, it is just a matter of WHEN.

[TexDotCom]

The Mrs. and I are very happy the FBI managed to get things right on this one...we both work on the 50th floor of a bldg a couple blocks away from Fountain Place in Dallas. As my Dad, an O-8 in the Army, stated after the news broke, "Man, things are crazy and most of America just doesn't get it..." As usual, I find myself in agreement with him. Thankfully, I have you wonderful guys and gals to read from and feel a sense of agreement with that I find in very few other places.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

chamberc wrote: The murders of 9/11 will not be the last innocent deaths in the war, we just have to keep our guard up, probably forever, because we're unwilling to take the necessary action to end the confrontation.

What action is that? We're at war in 2 countries we know of, we've taken some military action in Africa,
security is ramped up at the scareports, and we're arresting all the terrorists we can find in the USA.

We can't nuke the entire Arabic world. Then we'd have to nuke Islamic Africa. Oh, then there's the 1800
Indonesian islands.

SIA

[chamberc]

We can't nuke the entire Arabic world.SIA

Of course not, that absurd.

1) We are easily able to identify the enemy. The book of Koran commands followers to commit murder of non-followers:
("Fighting is obligatory for you, much as you dislike it." (Surah 2:216), "Believers, take neither Jews nor Christians for your friends." (Surah 5:51), "When ye encounter the infidels,3 strike off their heads till ye have made a great slaughter among them, and of the rest make fast the fetters. (Surah 47:3 )

2) We must secure the borders of the United States

3) We must actively enforce existing immigration laws, and deport, without possibility of return, those who violate them.

4) We must end support of, or stop ignoring terrorist supporting nation states such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, North Korea, Egypt, et al., through active destabilization both overt and covert as well as financial measures, and ultimately military force when necessary.

These are just a few of the reasonable actions we should be taking.

[surprise_i'm_armed]

chamberc: My replies to your points are in blue below.

Of course not, that absurd.

1) We are easily able to identify the enemy. The book of Koran commands followers to commit murder of non-followers:
("Fighting is obligatory for you, much as you dislike it." (Surah 2:216), "Believers, take neither Jews nor Christians for your friends." (Surah 5:51), "When ye encounter the infidels,3 strike off their heads till ye have made a great slaughter among them, and of the rest make fast the fetters. (Surah 47:3 )
OK, we know the terrorists are Muslim. But there are millions of Muslims in the world, so knowing who to arrest or kill is not that simple.

2) We must secure the borders of the United States.
Yes, I totally agree with this. But neither the Republicans or the Dems want to do anything about this. Republicans love the cheap labor they can exploit and the extra consumer goods and services that can be sold to a larger population, even one which is rife with illegal folks. The Dems don't want to shut the border because they feel sorry for the border jumpers.

3) We must actively enforce existing immigration laws, and deport, without possibility of return, those who violate them.
As with #2, you're preaching to the choir here. I agree.

4) We must end support of, or stop ignoring terrorist supporting nation states such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iran, North Korea, Egypt, et al., through active destabilization both overt and covert as well as financial measures, and ultimately military force when necessary.

Saudi Arabia supplies us with oil and helps to keep the other OPEC nations in some sort of order. It's highly unlikely the US would take any kind of
adverse action. As for the rest, some are isolated/sanctioned already for their evildoing. As far as military action, "all war all the time" is a costly strategy. Bush screwed us in multiple ways, and now Obama has opened up the federal spending spigot. I don't see how we can stretch our military any thinner.

These are just a few of the reasonable actions we should be taking.

[chamberc]

chamberc: My replies to your points are in blue below.

I don't think we're that far apart on this issue.

As I said, we're not prepared to do what is necessary.

Yes, the Saudi's provide oil, but they're also provide the most amount of money for terrorism of any nation.

The hard decisions are hard for a reason.

No one is suggesting killing all Muslims, but continued prosecution and focus on "domestic terrorists" and not focusing on the easily identifiable target wastes our limited resources.

A systematic approach to each of the problems is simply not in the cards because our "leaders" don't see beyond the next election. They're still in the mindset of fighting the last war, and are not reaching out and cutting off the heads one at a time.

[TheArmedFarmer]

Unfortunately, where there is a will, there is usually a way, and it is not going to be a matter of IF they are able to wage another attack, it is just a matter of WHEN.

Keith,

Your post was interesting and insightful, but it left me with more questions. I've always wondered why we haven't had another attack on our own soil since 9/11. If there is a will, then certainly in the past 8 years they would have found a way.

The recent plots were all foiled through the FBI setting up the would-be terrorist, supplying (fake) explosives and prompting the person to use them. Without the FBI's involvement, I wonder if these men would have actually committed them. I'm not implying that the person is innocent (by any means! I expect them to be properly found guilty following a trial, which is their right). I'm just wondering on whether they would have acted eventually without the FBI prodding them along.

This country is rich with opportunities for a terrorist to spread terror, so why is it that in 8 years we've seen nothing?

[Keith B]

Unfortunately, where there is a will, there is usually a way, and it is not going to be a matter of IF they are able to wage another attack, it is just a matter of WHEN.

Keith,

Your post was interesting and insightful, but it left me with more questions. I've always wondered why we haven't had another attack on our own soil since 9/11. If there is a will, then certainly in the past 8 years they would have found a way.

The recent plots were all foiled through the FBI setting up the would-be terrorist, supplying (fake) explosives and prompting the person to use them. Without the FBI's involvement, I wonder if these men would have actually committed them. I'm not implying that the person is innocent (by any means! I expect them to be properly found guilty following a trial, which is their right). I'm just wondering on whether they would have acted eventually without the FBI prodding them along.

This country is rich with opportunities for a terrorist to spread terror, so why is it that in 8 years we've seen nothing?

The best method to prevent crime is to stop it before it happens. Deterrents are the most successful way to keep them at bay. If the bad guys know you are on their tail, they usually will hide out, break down planning and communication and not follow through with their plans because they feel they will be stopped before they can complete it.

There are lots of cases that go unpublished where individuals were not allowed access into the country, have been found here illegally and deported, etc. Good intelligence and detective work is going on. Staying on top of the chatter, infiltrating their networks, etc. is occurring. These have happened since 9/11 and will continue to happen. I feel this is why we haven't seen another attack on our soil since 9/11.

Unfortunately, just as the attacks on 9/11 got trough the net, we will probably see another one some day. Will it be tomorrow or 10 years from now, only time will tell.

As for the sting operations; These people who wish to wage jihad will work at building their network. They will search and hunt for a method to carry out their attack. While they may not have been successful at planning one as quickly, they would eventually have found a means if not stopped. Stings are a tired and true method of getting into something early and breaking it up. If you allow an individual to build an actual operational cell, then you have a lot more to deal with than just one ring leader/instigator. As a farmer and gardener, you know well that if you stop the growth early you keep the weed from becoming mature. Let one weed mature, and they start spreading like crazy from the roots and the seeds that blow in the wind.

[Purplehood]

Quoting the Surah's of the Koran can be very misleading. The Koran is not a result of heavy and constant editing. It is more like a logbook. It is ideas thrown out in a chronological order, that can be superseded by another surah at a later date.
The vast majority of Muslim's will look at the very Surah's highlighted in previous posts on this thread and realize that they are superseded by more moderate/palatable ones to our Western-eyes.
I am sure that radical Muslim's can take a look at the Old Testament and pick and choose their own passages that support their views of Christianity.
It appears to me that any radical of any religious belief can point to any Holy Book to support their particular brand of radicalism. In my own view that is just a sign of a simple-mind, as they miss the grander scheme of things that their religion is really all about.