Two years ago, yesterday, an incredible, massive, horrific act of terror and violence occured in this country.
Since then … nada.
Why?
Was it an all-or-nothing gasp of an organization far less organized and potent than we know (or are being told), and so no longer much of a threat?
Was it all a big conspiracy by the cabal of Bad Men Who Run Things, to get us all running around in chicken-squawking alarm, thus more easily manageable?
Have the terrorist organizations been so damaged (or their sponsors so cowed) by US actions since then that no further attack has been possible? If so, have we accomplished our purpose, do we need to maintain our vigilence, or should we press our advantage?
Have the “homeland security” measures taken by the Bush Administration been so effective that they’ve forestalled further attacks? Should we know that? Can we know that?
Were our protections already so good that the 9/11 plot was even more of an aberration than it would seem, the one-in-a-million shot inevitably paid off?
I mean, I can’t believe that, two years later — a couple of Christmasses, some Fourths of July, a 9/11 anniversary or two, not to mention a pair of wars launched — there was no “magic moment” when, if they could, al Qa’eda (or others) would not have struck. Two years in Geopolitical Time is like two years in Internet Time — a lifetime. It’s possible that OBL or his heirs are still slowly plotting and putting things together with infinite patience for an even greater attack — but, jeez, even a few less dramatic acts of terror would have had an amazing impact.
Unless that’s their plan — having struck out at the US, seen the response, and realizing the next step needs to go for the jugular, not the balls.
I don’t know.
I don’t know the answer. I don’t know we’ll know for another decade or three or ten. If ever. But it would sure be nice to, to know what’s known in the halls of power, here in the US, and in Paris, and London, and Riyadh, and Karachi. Not to mention in a cave in Afghanistan, or a small house in Tikrit, or ….
The problem is, not knowing, we, as an electorate, can only guess, and try to elect the folks we feel we can trust to act wisely, with restraint when needed, with vigor when needed, whether we think They know all the answers we don’t or not.
And I’m not sure we, as an electorate, can afford to guess wrongly.
UPDATE: Here’s someone else who’s noted the same thing — and therefore concludes that everything is just peachy and terrorism is simply a government bogeyman. Riiiiiiight.
Well, it’s only been a ‘quiet’ couple of years if you look at the home front.
With the offensive in Iraq and Afghanistan, we’ve provided OBL with an opportunity to do something he could not do in the year after 9/11: namely, kill Americans. With all the troops in Iraq we’ve provided him with targets he could not have otherwise reached.
Between 9/11 and the occupation of Iraq, there were no American deaths at the hands of Al Qaeda. Since Bush declared combat operations over, we’re seeing terrorists killing Americans on a near-weekly basis.
Here’s a fascinating piece from StratFor that’s worth reading (Hellblazer copied it over — it’s an excellent piece):
http://www.hellblazer.com/archives/001881.html
bin Forgotten needs to make a big play soon, to prove his chops.
True. Though I’d distinguish between combat deaths vs guerilla forces, and attacks on civilians within the US.
You’re correct, though, that there are “easier” targets now, albeit ones that can and do shoot back. (On the other hand, I read an article the other day that, ironically, noted that the violent death rate among young blacks in Washington DC was higher than the casualty rate among US soldiers in Iraq.)
I’ve read some speculation about Iraq being a “flypaper” operation — make an attractive target (as you noted) for violent whackos that (a) isn’t in the US, and (b) is itself heavily armed and capable of fighting back. I think that’s giving too much credit to the Bush Administration, myself, but that may be an inadvertent effect.
But it was the home front I was focusing on. Even if you “only” count from 9/01 to 3/03, it’s astonishing to me that there were no further terror attacks within the US — and still have not been.