Is the threat of terrorism real?

Question

I can hear the replies: "Of course it is! look at 9/11, Khobar towers, London subways, Madrid etc. etc."

Just wait a second and hear me out.

Why don't we see more of it in the US?
This is especially curious since we are the MAIN target.
Anyone who's ever flown a model rocket as a kid has all the skills necessary to build a pipe bomb. One trip to Walmart will provide them with all the hardware.
Just think of the terror that could be inflicted if one of these nuts planted pipe bombs in a few malls or college football games.
What about electrical substations throughout the nation these are only protected by rusty 30 year old fencing.

This leads me to a few conclusions:

1. Either it is blown WAY out of proportion and is a means for the government to scare and control us.

2 Or it is real and we are living in a 1984 type scenario where the govt. tracks us so closely that they could neutralize any such plan before it happens.

What do you think?

Roch cop: That's just a stupid answer, and I covered the "memos" in option two. But I guess you don't have much reading comprehension, Goober.

Renee: I am a Christian and I have NEVER seen anyone in ministry tell anyone else to vote for Bush. Yet there are plenty of Black churches where ministers explicitly tell their congregations to vote Democrat. Some Christians are even pacifists. We're real people with varied opinions. Get out of the house a bit and you might realize this.

Answer 1

Yes, I believe the threat of terrorism is very real. Al Queda has a history of intricate planning for maximum effect. Why would they bother hitting us in a few malls or college games? They had a spectacular world stage with 9/11 - are they going to move backwards and hit us with what they consider as small moves? No, I don't think so. The planning for the planes from England to the US was a long time in its fruition, and it was larger than anythiing they have attempted since 9/11. I think when they try to hit us, and believe me I don't ever want it to happen, it will be a long and carefully planned attack to take more than the 3,000 lives they took five years ago. We are the big cheese, no small attacks for us. We should continue to be vigilant and hope that we get lucky the next time, and that the cleared path between our intelligence sources and the White House stays clear on a permanent basis.

Answer 2

There is certainly a threat of terrorism. You are more likely to die of terrorism or ancillary causes (i.e. can't get to the hospital to have a serious illness treated due to violence) in Iraq than any other cause.

In the USA, on the other hand, it's a completely different story. In the more than 5 years since September 10, 2001 approximately 3000 people have been killed in the US due to terrorism or ancillary causes. Approximately how many have died due to other non-natural causes? According to the CDC, just from 2001 to 2003, 2,082,178 died from heart disease: http://webapp.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/leadcaus10.html

That's almost 700 times the rate of death from terrorist attack, but we accept that risk without a second thought.

What about automobile crashes? This site http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/toptens/accidents/accidentsFULL.html,
whose accuracy I cannot verify but which seems reasonable, says 43,200 people die per year, which over the 5 years since 9/11, amounts to 216,000 dead which is 72 times the rate of terrorism deaths in this country. But we accept that risk without giving it a thought every time we drive to the store for a gallon of milk.

In conclusion, yes there is a real threat of terrorism. For some reason though, Americans are willing to give up their constitutional rights and put up with historically unprecedented federal deficits (which eventually must be reconciled) to fight terrorism. But heart disease and auto accidents seem to mostly be off the radar, even though someone who dies from heart disease or auto accident is just as dead as the WTC victims.

It's a completely irrational way to look at things.

Answer 3

Well, who do you think is committing the overseas attacks? Some of the fear may be a little over the top, but as former President Clinton said, all we have to do is be wrong once. Being aware is one thing, being paranoid is quite another. I think prevention is working for the most part.

It is real, to what extent, as a private citizen, I can only surmise. 1984? No, I don't feel we are being tracked that closely. If you are calling overseas to one of the countries that might be a haven for terrorism, I have no problem with monitoring those calls.

Answer 4

Here are the attacks that have happened, only since 1993:

The first WTC bombing on Feb. 26, 1993, by al qaeda
Oklahoma City bombing on Apr. 19, 1995
US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania on Aug. 7, 1998
USS Cole bombing on Oct. 12, 2000
WTC and Pentagon attacks on Sep. 11, 2001

You can see that 4 out of 5 occurred while Clinton was in office, and only 1 since Bush has taken office (3 had occur ed at this point in Clinton's presidency). I call an average (up to 9-11) of an attack every year and a half a pretty real threat. Maybe you're just getting comfortable in a world where there hasn't been an attack on your country in over 5 years. That tells me that we're finally combating terrorism effectively.

Answer 5

they have tried for years to give up the cultivation of Heroin interior of Afghanistan to no avail. The colombian cocaine lords have paid off their personal authorities and police forces, so that they could't be stopped. Marijuana is a international wide issue that seriously is not stopped because of the quantity of clients. the authorities could look on the prevalent drugs that us and our households use to alleviate soreness and such. maximum are far extra addictive than maximum unlawful drugs. Even ingredients comprise chemical substances which impact the body in a similar thanks to narcotics. fairly of battling the warfare, they ought to legalise each and every thing. No drug cartels then and if the individuals favor to apply and kill themselves then high-quality - they were morons contained in the first position.

Answer 6

Terrorism is real. It has been in existence for a very long time. What is disgusting is when people use terrorism to advance their agenda. Anyone with average or above intelligence knows that George W. Bush did this to win elections with lies. So did the entire Republican party. Is that moral???? NO, IT IS NOT. Ironically enough, these people call themselves the moral majority.

Answer 7

Terrorism is real. Terrorists are real. But like a lot of smart cookies, I dislike the current broken administration holding the country hostage on this one note issue. The republicans -- and Bush, certainly -- are no guarantee of our safety from terror. They are not the only game in town when it comes to national security. They have drawn this issue falsely, and the gullible continue to parrot their spin and lies.

The latest example: People who say "We fight in Iraq so we don't have to fight here."

Answer 8

I think both of your conclusions are faulty. It is not blown out of proportion at all. Look at how little it took for them to do 9/11.

The reason we haven't been attacked at home since then is because we are NOW on a wartime footing, with no 'walls of separation' between foreign intelligence and domestic law enforcement, with programs in place to find, locate and prevent these types of attacks, etc.

As for your second conclusion - you're assuming a level of government competence exponentially above what the reality is.

The problem is that if the terrorists are successful only 1 out of 100 attempts, then they succeed. If we prevent 99 out of 100 attempts, then we've failed. Luckily, we've been successful so far.

Answer 9

Man you must had hit your head. duh!! it is real maybe if u had a family and friends that dies in Sept11 or that died cause of the terrorist attack maybe then you will realized that it is real. But i guess no has yet died in yoyour family nor ur friends huh that's why your asking the most stupid question there is to think i guess u don't have a brain hah. You probably don't know how it feels to have someone die in yoyour family and friends that causes by terrorist. If i were u, u should just put a sock on it and do something productive wit ur life dumb ***.

Answer 10

We have seen some Terrorsit attacks. One at UNC last year. What we have done so for is stopping many of them. The few that do happen get very little play in the press and th goverment does white wash them.

By the way the #1 thing that is keeping it from the US is the Iraq war. It is doing just what it was meant to. Keep the fighting over there.