Posting From STRATFOR - Terror & Terrorism
I'd like to post this forward from STRATFOR on the issue of Terror & Terrorism.
There's no doubt that I felt terrorized by the events of September 11 (I feel that the term, "9/11" is somehow less respectful than use of the full date, as we did with "December 7th, 1941 a day which will live in infamy as the Japanese attacked us at Pearl Harbor ..." I cannot think of anything that could drill pure terror into the hearts of almost anyone than having to decide whether to jump 100 stories, to your death, or burning alive. I'm not sure if YOU'VE thought about that, but I have, and I'd personally try to suck in enough toxic fumes & smoke that I'd collapse, and hope for unconsciousness v. jumping, or, feeling myself burning up.
Flesh is, after all, combustible.
Terrorism in the U.S. also includes the uses of terror to frighten & intimidate women who want an abortion, & must run gauntlets to get into an abortion clinic. The right to decide how to handle an unwanted pregnancy is the woman's right, ultimately. Those who try to terrorize American men & women into staying away from abortion clinics are true terrorists, to me.
When I look at all the various methods that terrorists have come up with in the last year, 2010, I'd say, there's been a significant advance across the board. Some, as the incident recently reported in Denmark, goes back three years to the cartoon of Muhammad in a Danish newspaper or journal. That's absurd. Western expressions of free speech must include the right to caricature any figure of any religion, period. The right of free speech therein, must be exercised. Islam must cope w/ their place in the 21st Century, and they should adapt to such acts of free speech, and allow them to roll off their backs.
If any religion is so fragile as to be bent into violence by a few cartoons, it's most likely not ready for the 21st Century. There is both respect & mockery given to all religions in the West, and yet, all have stood the test of time. None of the major religions have disappeared, since the concept of free speech emerged from modern Western European culture.
In the U.S., I think it's clear that sooner or later, we'll have an attack on Americans in a way that will cause serious casualties.
With more guns floating around than any modern nation on the face of the earth, the United States is wide open to slaughter through weapons. If any group of ten men & women were able to develop such sufficient operational and communications security as to stay completely off the radar for the time needed to train & prepare for a Mumbai type attack, the U.S. could see severe casualties in a single incident.
Obviously, an attack across the nation, say, within 72 hours of one another, in a dozen different locations where holiday shoppers are out in force, would cause deep, deep terror in the U.S. Mumbai was pulled off by 10 young men. There are undoubtedly, right now, 10 young angry (very) Muslim men seeking to cause Americans pain. The question is leadership & effective tradecraft. This means someone @ the core who is a skillful leader & trainer. And, more than likely, several cohorts of equal skill.
A number of young Pakistanis, as well as young Afghans, WERE able to collect themselves sufficiently that their moves to Pakistan or intended moves to Pakistan, to learn jihadist techniques, were overlooked by parents & friends. That's serious significant. That they could maintain serious operational & communications security, for such a young bunch of potential jiadists ... was impressive. Where did that discipline come from? The answer to that question makes more sense than that they were acting to do harm to Americans upon their return.
Afixing razor sharp butcher knives onto the wheels of trucks, which are then driven straight into large crowds of people, would surely constitute a terror-izing experience. The mere image makes me shiver. There would be many serious cut wounds, perhaps even amputations. The more graphic the images the more terror-izing these events would be for Americans.
Much of the world has seen terror in it's life time. The U.S. is essentially a "virgin" on this note. We've not seen destruction of the Homeland since the Civil War. We've not seen terror since September 11, and thank goodness for that. If vidoe exists of the Ft. Hood attack, however, I'd guess most Americans would see it as deeply terror-izing.
And, that's the area where we may not be able to forestall such acts. With plenty of guns, and materials for fuel oil/ fertilizier bombs serving as the most handy components for bomb making, and terror attacks, I'd say we should adjust ourselves to see those methods used, sooner or later, in the U.S.
Likewise, Americans are undoubtedly being surveilled in any number of places where American tourists or visitors are thick, and in soft target settings. We may not ever see the type of massive bombings that Mumbai or Madrid, or London have seen, but we will surely see shooting incidents like carried out by Major Hassan.
What I wonder is: how do we approach the American Muslim community with a purely American sense of fairness & open mindedness. We must not agree, for instance, to give Muslims a pass on the free expression of speech if, for instance, South Park wishes to again caricature Mohammad. But, we must also find a way to walk a different balancing act for the rights of Palestinians AND Israelis, in that endless struggle. Some how, we must find a way to show that while we have serious differences w/Islam, we do not mean to say that 6 or 7 million Israelis and 10-12 million Jews, elsewhere, are worth MORE than 1.2 billion or so Muslims & Arabs.
I don't know how to do that, other than direct American to Palestinian involvement in say, rebuilding Palestine.
Also, for some Americans to call for a more even handed approach to the dealings with Israel & Palestine. If we can make inroads into the PLA, and begin some form of economic assistance for the West Bank, and show Hamas that they, too, could enjoy benefits of a cessation of attacks on Israel & Israelis, then we should look deeply @ how to do that.
There's no other way, I'd propose, to end the cyclical violence that propels Muslim-Arab hatred towards the West, & certainly, toward the U.S.
My prediction for 2011 would be @ least one shooting incident in a crowded place where Americans will shoot other Americans for some political terrorist "statement." The # of plots & players is increasing quite rapidly now. It's a threat that's coming, & I don't think we can stop it.
I intend to not give in to fear, and allow myself to be terrorized by that possibility.
I hope other Americans won't blindly allow themselves to feel "afraid." I've heard friends say that they're more
fearful of terrorism. I'm not. I will not, at least at this point, give in to that emotion.
I've not felt any different from September 11 than I do today.
Perhaps a faith in a Greater Power helps me to say: those are forces that if rolled out, I won't likely be able to stop them, anyway. I trust in a Greater Power to protect, even if I find myself in an act of terrorism. Let's hope that all Americans assess whether they've given into Terror, and determine to stop that.
Separating Terror from Terrorism is republished with permission of STRATFOR.
There's no doubt that I felt terrorized by the events of September 11 (I feel that the term, "9/11" is somehow less respectful than use of the full date, as we did with "December 7th, 1941 a day which will live in infamy as the Japanese attacked us at Pearl Harbor ..." I cannot think of anything that could drill pure terror into the hearts of almost anyone than having to decide whether to jump 100 stories, to your death, or burning alive. I'm not sure if YOU'VE thought about that, but I have, and I'd personally try to suck in enough toxic fumes & smoke that I'd collapse, and hope for unconsciousness v. jumping, or, feeling myself burning up.
Flesh is, after all, combustible.
Terrorism in the U.S. also includes the uses of terror to frighten & intimidate women who want an abortion, & must run gauntlets to get into an abortion clinic. The right to decide how to handle an unwanted pregnancy is the woman's right, ultimately. Those who try to terrorize American men & women into staying away from abortion clinics are true terrorists, to me.
When I look at all the various methods that terrorists have come up with in the last year, 2010, I'd say, there's been a significant advance across the board. Some, as the incident recently reported in Denmark, goes back three years to the cartoon of Muhammad in a Danish newspaper or journal. That's absurd. Western expressions of free speech must include the right to caricature any figure of any religion, period. The right of free speech therein, must be exercised. Islam must cope w/ their place in the 21st Century, and they should adapt to such acts of free speech, and allow them to roll off their backs.
If any religion is so fragile as to be bent into violence by a few cartoons, it's most likely not ready for the 21st Century. There is both respect & mockery given to all religions in the West, and yet, all have stood the test of time. None of the major religions have disappeared, since the concept of free speech emerged from modern Western European culture.
In the U.S., I think it's clear that sooner or later, we'll have an attack on Americans in a way that will cause serious casualties.
With more guns floating around than any modern nation on the face of the earth, the United States is wide open to slaughter through weapons. If any group of ten men & women were able to develop such sufficient operational and communications security as to stay completely off the radar for the time needed to train & prepare for a Mumbai type attack, the U.S. could see severe casualties in a single incident.
Obviously, an attack across the nation, say, within 72 hours of one another, in a dozen different locations where holiday shoppers are out in force, would cause deep, deep terror in the U.S. Mumbai was pulled off by 10 young men. There are undoubtedly, right now, 10 young angry (very) Muslim men seeking to cause Americans pain. The question is leadership & effective tradecraft. This means someone @ the core who is a skillful leader & trainer. And, more than likely, several cohorts of equal skill.
A number of young Pakistanis, as well as young Afghans, WERE able to collect themselves sufficiently that their moves to Pakistan or intended moves to Pakistan, to learn jihadist techniques, were overlooked by parents & friends. That's serious significant. That they could maintain serious operational & communications security, for such a young bunch of potential jiadists ... was impressive. Where did that discipline come from? The answer to that question makes more sense than that they were acting to do harm to Americans upon their return.
Afixing razor sharp butcher knives onto the wheels of trucks, which are then driven straight into large crowds of people, would surely constitute a terror-izing experience. The mere image makes me shiver. There would be many serious cut wounds, perhaps even amputations. The more graphic the images the more terror-izing these events would be for Americans.
Much of the world has seen terror in it's life time. The U.S. is essentially a "virgin" on this note. We've not seen destruction of the Homeland since the Civil War. We've not seen terror since September 11, and thank goodness for that. If vidoe exists of the Ft. Hood attack, however, I'd guess most Americans would see it as deeply terror-izing.
And, that's the area where we may not be able to forestall such acts. With plenty of guns, and materials for fuel oil/ fertilizier bombs serving as the most handy components for bomb making, and terror attacks, I'd say we should adjust ourselves to see those methods used, sooner or later, in the U.S.
Likewise, Americans are undoubtedly being surveilled in any number of places where American tourists or visitors are thick, and in soft target settings. We may not ever see the type of massive bombings that Mumbai or Madrid, or London have seen, but we will surely see shooting incidents like carried out by Major Hassan.
What I wonder is: how do we approach the American Muslim community with a purely American sense of fairness & open mindedness. We must not agree, for instance, to give Muslims a pass on the free expression of speech if, for instance, South Park wishes to again caricature Mohammad. But, we must also find a way to walk a different balancing act for the rights of Palestinians AND Israelis, in that endless struggle. Some how, we must find a way to show that while we have serious differences w/Islam, we do not mean to say that 6 or 7 million Israelis and 10-12 million Jews, elsewhere, are worth MORE than 1.2 billion or so Muslims & Arabs.
I don't know how to do that, other than direct American to Palestinian involvement in say, rebuilding Palestine.
Also, for some Americans to call for a more even handed approach to the dealings with Israel & Palestine. If we can make inroads into the PLA, and begin some form of economic assistance for the West Bank, and show Hamas that they, too, could enjoy benefits of a cessation of attacks on Israel & Israelis, then we should look deeply @ how to do that.
There's no other way, I'd propose, to end the cyclical violence that propels Muslim-Arab hatred towards the West, & certainly, toward the U.S.
My prediction for 2011 would be @ least one shooting incident in a crowded place where Americans will shoot other Americans for some political terrorist "statement." The # of plots & players is increasing quite rapidly now. It's a threat that's coming, & I don't think we can stop it.
I intend to not give in to fear, and allow myself to be terrorized by that possibility.
I hope other Americans won't blindly allow themselves to feel "afraid." I've heard friends say that they're more
fearful of terrorism. I'm not. I will not, at least at this point, give in to that emotion.
I've not felt any different from September 11 than I do today.
Perhaps a faith in a Greater Power helps me to say: those are forces that if rolled out, I won't likely be able to stop them, anyway. I trust in a Greater Power to protect, even if I find myself in an act of terrorism. Let's hope that all Americans assess whether they've given into Terror, and determine to stop that.
Separating Terror from Terrorism is republished with permission of STRATFOR.
posted by skyminder at
3:03 PM
1 Comments:
Jerry, you are truly a goofy lefty. You compare peaceful demonstrators outside abortion clinics with terrorists, people who blow up innocent Men, Women and children with bombs strapped to their wastes. Liberalism is TRULY a mental disorder.
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