Does anyone really think terrorists are just waiting for an excuse to strike?

[Logical]

We are on a heightened alert now because we killed Bin laden.

None of this makes sense to me!

So there are terrorists in the USA just waiting for a excuse to pull off the next big attack? Then why not do one monthly or weekly? There are 100s of things they could do to kill 20 Americans a week.

I am starting to think there are no organized terrorists in the USA ready to strike. Or wanting to strike.

If they wanted to, they could pull a Jared Loughner type shooting once a week! Guns and ammo are easy to get. It would freak this country out if that happened at a college/pro sporting event parking lot or big mall weekly.

I think we are being sold a bill of goods. If they wanted to terrorize this country it would be easy to do with 52 people and a street purchased handgun weekly.

Keeping us scared makes us controllable.

I am open to suggestions about where I am wrong on this logic.

[seabeyond]

1. exactly how i think. this is not gonna make them do it anymore than they wanted to do yesterday. nt

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. pc

:popcorn:

Let's get them all in here.

[quinnox]

3. I'm baffled by it too

Either we have an extraordinary intelligence system going on that is thwarting attacks, or for some reason the terrorists aren't interested in hitting the US mainland any more.

Either way, its very odd we have not been hit by a major terror attack for years.

[Logical]

25. +1

[valerief]

4. They don't call it theater for nothin'. nt

[RandySF]

5. I'm not worried about a big strike

I am concerned that an individual might try to do something similar to the attempted car-bombing in NYC a number of months ago.

[Logical]

11. That is my point......the complicated ones never work. Shoe bombs....

car bombs. Etc. Shooting someone will work every time. But still no attempts.

[liskddksil]

26. Ironically that incident in times square occured on May 1st 2010

[RKP5637]

6. Fear is a strong motivator, as well as, a strong control mechanism. Probably if

there were absolutely nothing to fear IMO the gov. would still do a heightened alert as CYA.

That said, I think fear is used to keep the populace in line as a mind shaping mechanism.

[kick-ass-bob]

7. I think it raises the potential 'opportunistic attacks"

such as kidnappings/killings in foreign countries with lax security, but not anything with any serious planning required. Such groups are all about retaliation, but if you look at these from the past, they are random and not on a large scale.

[xchrom]

8. I tend to agree with you - but we're never gonna know what those in charge do.

And that's part of the problem.
They keep us in fear and we don't have a clear idea.

[dipsydoodle]

9. Fear is the mind-killer.

Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.

Frank Herbert - Dune.

[ProSense]

10. Yes,

Glen Greenwald.

[Lasher]

12. Yeah, what was this supposed to do, make them hate us?

We shouldn't do anything to people who kill us, so they'll like us. Don't wanna make them mad.

[Logical]

15. I do not think making them mad increases the chances of anyting happening in the USA. n-t

[Lasher]

36. But maybe it will make the terrorists unfriend me on Facebook.

Boo hoo, that would make me sad.

[ecstatic]

13. I don't think they're waiting for an excuse. They're probably

organizing, and when they see any opening,they strike, regardless of the current events.

[Logical]

18. Then it takes them a long time to organize. n-t

[ecstatic]

40. Or it could be that nobody is organizing right now

Which is fine by me! The point is, me and you won't know that sort of stuff.

[treestar]

14. No. But it's still possible some group, like Al Qaeda, is planning

another big attack like 911. They took their time planning 911.

[Logical]

23. Kill 20 a week for two years and you killed 2,000. And only needed 104 people to do it.

[treestar]

27. Al Qaeda appears to prefer big symbolic attacks with fewer casualties

It is often pointed out how much more destruction they could have done and how many more they could have killed by crashing the planes they commandeered differently.

They chose to kill fewer with a bigger gesture. That's why we need people who think like them. People who think like us would have maximized casualties.

[Logical]

30. I see your point but the failed shoe bombs and Times Square boms did nothing. n-t

[cottonseed]

16. Getting called to CNN headquarters and talking about "sleeper cells" pays good money.

Why no organized "sleeper cell" has done anything significant in 10 years besides burning their nutts in a plan they can't explain, but what they can do is collect consulting fees to help describe these shadowing figures.

[Logical]

21. 100% correct!! n-t

[JVS]

17. I'm afraid that they'll start health insurance companies.

Then they'll really start racking up a body count.

[Logical]

19. +100

[Incitatus]

29. The current management is doing a pretty good job of that on their own. nt

[cottonseed]

20. Getting called to CNN headquarters and talking about "sleeper cells" pays good money.

Why no organized "sleeper cell" has done anything significant in 10 years besides burning their nutts in a plan they can't explain, but what they can do is collect consulting fees to help describe these shadowing figures.

[Zanzoobar]

22. Excuse, no. Opportunity, yes.

[Logical]

24. There is opportunity EVERY DAY! n-t

[Zanzoobar]

31. Not really

They're not out to kill Americans, but destroy American institutions.

Bus bombings don't do shit. They know that. Why expose a cell for a small potato?

[Logical]

35. I guarantee a shooting of 20 people weekly would freak out this country and .....

implement huge security changes.

[Zanzoobar]

38. It sure would

But that's not what they want. It would work against their goals.

[nadinbrzezinski]

28. Anybody who has done any intel work understands this

it is called the revenge cycle. You killed mine, so I killed yours, and then you killed another one of mine.

It is that simple.

It is the real world too.

[JVS]

32. Ok, now that I've done my joke answer, I'll give a less glib answer.

Terrorist describes a tactic, and I think that it is poor analysis to confuse a tactic for a goal. These people must have an agenda to push, and given the fact that most of the mid east is in turmoil, I wouldn't be surprised to see them focusing their energies on making sure that the new situation suits them better than the old one. Now, people claim the "Arab Spring" is a democratic movement. It probably is, but calls for democracy are what groups who are excluded from power always do. these guys are going to want to make sure that the democratic changes represent their constituents.

[Old and In the Way]

33. Mother Nature appears to be the #1 Terrorist threat we face, worldwide.

We spend trillions to create and sustain war on an unknown enemy whose combined death toll is is a few thousand over decades. But plan for global climate change that's killed 100's of thousands over the past 10 years? Not important. The Bush GWOT was always about the efficient transfer of taxpayer dollars to the MIC.

[RebelOne]

34. Yeah, Mother Nature just killed over 300 people here in Georgia.

I think we should fear Mother Nature more so than terrorists. At least I do. I live in fear that May will bring more tornadoes and my area will not be so lucky next time.

[Logical]

37. Great point. n-t

[Poboy]

39. "Keeping us scared makes us controllable. " -yes, nt