After watching the latest Republican debate, and visiting the boards, only to hear the repeated hollow clanging of empty statements like "they're trying to kill us all!" I felt I had to controversally attempt to bring a bit of reality to light. Unlike Bill O-Reilly, I think that history and perspective is important. Since an unsolved bombing in New York back in 1920 that killed 35 people, there have only been 5 succesfull terrorist attacks on the United States soil in 90 years. Only two were related to Islamic fundamentalism. In comparison, the IRA committed over 50 bombings in England during a 30 year period. In Iraq, each year several terrorist attacks on the Iraqi people kill hundreds. In the war to save us from terrorism, over 5000 US troops have died and estimates of up to 900,000 Iraqi and Afghani civilians have also been killed during the fighting. I am fully aware that 911 was the most audacious, shocking and horrific terror event in history, but I'll be happy to boldly say that those who use that event as an excuse to risk the lives of millions are guilty of extremely narrow thinking and absurd fearmongering. Simplistically put, your odds of dying in a terrorist attack in America are just slightly better than being killed by a meteor. I would love to hear from those of you who live in fear that a terrorist is around every corner waiting to blow you up. Where does this fear come from, and would you concede at all that it is somewhat irrational?
Not enough scary stuff here for the average American republican I am afraid. Flash it up a bit and they will run over here. For instance say you got the information from Michael Moore or Nancy P.
I don't think Islam in itself is the dangerous part of the equation. ABB, IRA, ETA, Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hezbollah, Tamil Tigers, Lehi, they're all primarily concerned with the concept of a nation and the borders of nations. IRA fought for Ireland to be free, ETA for the Basque area, ABB and Lehi for Israel's existence, Tamil Tigers for Sri Lankan independence, Al Qaeda, Hezbollah and Hamas for Palestines existence and borders towards Israel. I think it's a bit hap-hazard to assume that acts performed by Al Qaeda are fundamentally Islamic when almost every other terrorist group are fuelled by another reason, and one which Al Qaeda shares. With that in mind, "they hate us for our freedom" becomes a bit weird.
What always gets me is that the US has more homegrown terrorists than ANY nation, and the right wing fights tirelessly to ensure that they are each equipped with enough firepower to take out small towns whenever they want. 30000 gun murders a year in this country and all anyone talks about is that 1 trillion on "terrorist" defense isn't enough, and local cops are overpaid government officials. 3000 citizens died 10 years ago and our national defense has been centered around that event. Meanwhile, 100 times that many citizens have murdered each other in the same time period, and no one cares one bit about that. So, so sad.
OP is dead on. Terrorism is a boogyman shoved out to get more votes. The consequence of people truly believing in this boogyman is two wars and a loss of rights. We've lost lives, money, and liberty all because a bunch of people are scared of their own shadow. Our nation has done more harm to itself than terrorists ever could.
We didn't start having terrorist attacks until we occupied the middle east in the 1950s and it started getting worse and worse. We do have something to be afraid of, but we are the fault of it. That said, we had the information to stop 9/11 atleast the CIA, France, And putin warned the president weeks beforehand. So both the war and the patriot act are built upon a false premise.
Notable attacks associated with domestic terrorism [edit] Bombing of Los Angeles Times building Main article: Los Angeles Times bombing The bombing of the Los Angeles Times on October 1, 1910 killed 21 people.[17] The perpetrators of this crime were the McNamara brothers (James and John McNamara), two Irish-American brothers who wanted to unionize the paper. The McNamaras became a cause célèbre amongst the labor movement in the United States, though their support eroded when they admitted their guilt. [edit] Wall Street bombing Main article: Wall Street bombing The Wall Street bombing was a terrorist incident that occurred on September 16, 1920, in the Financial District of New York City. A horse-drawn wagon filled with 100 pounds (45 kg) of dynamite was stationed across the street from the headquarters of the J.P. Morgan Inc. bank. The explosion killed 38 and injured 400. Even though no one was found guilty, it is believed that the act was carried out by followers of Luigi Galleani. [edit] Bath, Michigan Bombings Main article: Bath School disaster On May 18, 1927, in Bath, Michigan, a radicalist school board member named Andrew Kehoe—angry at local taxes that caused his farm to foreclose, and other government policies—set off three bombs and killed forty-five people, including thirty-eight students and seven adults. [edit] Unabomber attacks Main article: Theodore Kaczynski From 1978 to 1995, Harvard University graduate and former mathematics professor Theodore "Ted" Kaczynski - known by the codename "UNABOM" until his identification and arrest by the FBI - carried out a campaign of sending letterbombs to academics and various individuals particularly associated with modern technology. In 1996, his manifesto was published in The New York Times and the Washington Post, under the threat of more attacks. The bomb campaign ended with his capture. [edit] Attacks by the Jewish Defense League Main article: Terrorism by the Jewish Defense League In 2004 congressional testimony, John S. Pistole, Executive Assistant Director for Counterterrorism and Counterintelligence for the Federal Bureau of Investigation described the JDL as "a known violent extremist Jewish Organization."[18] FBI statistics show that, from 1980 through 1985, there were 18 terrorist attacks in the U.S. committed by Jews; 15 of those by members of the JDL.[13] Mary Doran, an FBI agent, described the JDL in a 2004 Congressional testimony as "a proscribed terrorist group". Most recently, then-JDL Chairman Irv Rubin was jailed while awaiting trial on charges of conspiracy in planning bomb attacks against the King Fahd Mosque in Culver City, California, and on the office of Arab-American Congressman Darrell Issa. [edit] Oklahoma City bombing Main article: Oklahoma City bombing This truck bomb attack by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols killed 168 people on April 19, 1995 – the deadliest domestic-based terrorist attack in US history and, before the September 11, 2001 attacks, the deadliest act of terrorism in US history. It inspired improvements to United States federal building security. [edit] Centennial Olympic Park bombing Main article: Centennial Olympic Park bombing The Centennial Olympic Park bombing was a terrorist bombing on July 27, 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States during the 1996 Summer Olympics, the first of four committed by Eric Robert Rudolph, former explosives expert for the United States Army. Two people died, and 111 were injured. [edit] 2001 anthrax attacks Main article: 2001 anthrax attacks The 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States occurred over the course of several weeks beginning on September 18, 2001. Letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to several news media offices and two Democratic U.S. Senators, killing five people and infecting 17 others. In mid-2008, the FBI narrowed its focus to Bruce Edwards Ivins, a scientist who worked at the government's biodefense labs at Fort Detrick in Frederick, Maryland. Ivins was told of the impending prosecution and on July 29 committed suicide, by an overdose of acetaminophen. [edit] Murder of George Tiller Main article: Assassination of George Tiller On May 31, 2009, George Tiller, a physician from Wichita, Kansas who was nationally known for being one of the few doctors in the United States to perform late-term abortions, was shot and killed by Scott Roeder, an anti-abortion activist. Tiller was killed during a Sunday morning service at his church, where he was serving as an usher. Multiple action groups and media figures have labeled Tiller's killing an act of domestic terrorism and an assassination. Roeder was arrested within three hours of the shooting and charged with first-degree murder and related crimes two days later. In November 2009 Roeder publicly confessed to the killing, telling the Associated Press that he had shot Tiller because "preborn children's lives were in imminent danger." Roeder was found guilty of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated assault on January 29, 2010, and sentenced to life without parole for 50 years on April 1, 2010. [edit] Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting Main article: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting An elderly man with believed ties to neo-Nazi groups opened fire on June 10, 2009 at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, killing one guard. James W. Von Brunn, 88, from Maryland, reportedly entered the museum shortly before 1 p.m. EDT, took out what appeared to be a rifle and fired at a security guard. Two other security guards returned fire, striking the shooter, according to reports. Von Brunn died on January 6, 2010, while awaiting trial. [edit] Fort Hood Shooting Main article: Fort Hood shooting The Fort Hood shooting was a mass shooting that took place on November 5, 2009, at Fort Hood—the most populous US military installation in the world, located just outside Killeen, Texas—in which a gunman killed 13 people and wounded 30 others. The sole suspect is Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S. Army major serving as a psychiatrist. He was shot by Department of the Army Civilian Police officers, and is now paralyzed from the chest down. Hasan has been charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder under the Uniform Code of Military Justice; he may face additional charges at court-martial. [edit] Austin IRS attack Main article: 2010 Austin plane crash On February 18, 2010, Andrew Joseph Stack III flew his airplane into the IRS building in Austin, TX killing one other person and injuring many more in an act of lone wolf terrorism. He cited many reasons for his grievance against the government of the United States as well as other facets of the country such as bailout of financial institutions, politicians in general, conglomerate companies of General Motors, Enron and Arthur Andersen, labor unions, drug and health care insurance companies, and the Catholic Church. He added a meeting with a poor widow who never got pension benefits she was promised, the effect of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 on engineers, the September 11 attacks airline bailouts that only benefited the airlines but not the suffering engineers, how a Certified Public Accountant he hired seemed to side with the government to take extra tax money from him, criticism of the FAA and the George W. Bush administration were reasons for him to call for violent revolt. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domest...le_attacks_associated_with_domestic_terrorism These are just some of the more notable attacks, so the OP's knowledge of history is extremely flawed/ _
I'll admit I pulled some stats from a single site. They didn't include accounts of failed attacks, and the JDL and Unabomber were not included for some reason (I should have caught that). Nevertheless, I would argue that it hardly changes the point. Where is the threat of terrorists all around you? Where are these radicalised Islamic Jihadists living on American soil? For the sake of argument, let's say they did manage a successful attack once a year (which they don't even come close to achieving), would that justify widespread paranoia, global war and spending the country into failure? It's simply absurd that so many people are so naive.
There is no doubt that there are things in Islam that need to change, but a common misconception about that is that that should lead to mean that Islam are worst or dangerous to the common man or that hating individual Muslims is the right way to deal with it.
