Posted by
arandomguy on Thursday, August 10, 2006 11:34:11 PM
If anything, these new uncovered terrorist plans in London, where a terrorist cell was to explode bombs in several US bound British aircraft, reveal the need to remain vigilant in the war on terrorism. But saying so and doing so are entirely different matters, and the United States must remember to continue doing so, AND saying so, and not just choosing the latter.
First, it should be remembered that our airlines are not immune. In the years after 9/11, people have begun to feel like US airways are no longer vulnerable to attack, either because of the new tougher security measures, or because Al Qaeda is simply working on a different plan, having used airlines successfully. In short, some people think Al Qaeda has moved on.
This is not true. Al Qaeda will stick with what they know, and what they have proven works. Airlines are incredibly vulnerable, especially from Al Qaeda, who have proven time and again their ability to destroy airlines of western nations.
- The most prime example, is obviously 9/11. But in the past 20 years, there have been countless Al Qaeda sponsored, or Al Qaeda related terrorist attacks or attempted attacks involving airplanes.
- In 1995, Ramzi Yousef, responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and Khalid Shiekh Mohammed concocted a plot to destroy 11-12 American bound jets over the Pacific ocean. This plot was only thwarted after an accidental fire burned down their explosives cache.
- In December 2001, Richard Reid was arrested for trying to ignite a bomb in his shoe.
- In November 2003, Sajid Badat, a co-conspirator of Richard Reid was arrested in Great Britain for a similar shoe bomb.
- In September 2004, US Officials uncovered another shoe bomb in a California Postal facility.
These are several examples of attacks on US airplanes in just the past 10 years. Before 1995 there were many other attempts to destroy US aircraft. It proves that airplanes are, and continue to be reliable, and especially vulnerable targets for terrorist strikes, and shows that the United States must do more to protect our aircraft and our passengers from terrorists.
But some other questions arise as well about this terrorist plot. For starters, have the Jihadists already analyzed the security in place on these aircraft? Did they ride around for months discovering weaknesses? If so, why weren't they discovered? Do we need to update our counterterrorism efforts to catch them?
Also, we should step up our counterterrorism efforts in general. The Jihadists may have someone on the inside, either in Britain, the United States, or both. This cannot be allowed. But it does seem odd that the Jihadists repeatedly attack our biggest vulnerabilities. How do they know where we are vulnerable?
And if there isn't someone on the inside, the question still stands. How do they know where to hit us? And most of all, what can we do about it?
These questions are important, because the answers will determine the future of the war on terrorism. The US, and the world at large must remember the scope of the struggle we are in. It is a world wide war against the evil of Jihadism, a modern day equivalent to Nazism. We cannot give up now. It would be similar to Eisenhower suddenly calling it quits two days before Normandy.
We didn't quit in World War II, when we fought the evils of fascism. Why should we quit now when we fight the evil of religious fascism?