So I wanted to point out this article as a reminder we are at war with terrorists.
Criticisms of post-9/11 efforts to protect the United States from attack range from claims that America is more vulnerable than ever to the contention that the transnational terrorist danger is vastly over-hyped.[1] A review of publicly available information on at least 19 terrorist conspiracies thwarted by U.S. law enforcement suggests that the truth lies somewhere in between these two arguments.
U.S. agencies are actively combating individuals and groups that are intent on killing Americans and plotting mayhem to foster violent extremist political and religious agendas. A review of the data suggests several important conclusions:
- Combating terrorism is essential for keeping America safe, free, and prosperous.
- Counterterrorism operations have uncovered threats that in some cases, although less sophisticated than the 9/11 attacks and at most loosely affiliated with "al-Qaeda" central, could have resulted in significant loss of life and property if they had been conducted successfully.
- The best means to prevent terrorist attacks is effective intelligence collection, information sharing, and coordinated, determined counterterrorism operations that can stop attacks before they are mounted.
- Effective operations often require federal, state, local, and international cooperation.
Few of the planned attacks were potentially as devastating in scope as the September 11, 2001, attacks on Washington and New York. In addition, the successful interdiction of these efforts offers no guarantee that future attacks will also be prevented.
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