We still need to worry about Terrorism

I wrote in a previous post about some Britons' apathy toward terror threats, and commented on reports that Spain and India remained acutely fearful. A number of recent news reports would bolster these fears. These reports should also remind us that it is not just the Bush administration that is sounding the warning siren about terrorism, as many liberals accuse Bush of.

The Telegraph reports: Bin Laden 'back in control' of terror blitz, while ABC News also notes: CIA: Bin Laden in Pakistan Establishing New Camps. Two clear threats in two days.

ABC:

In the most definitive statement in years, America's top intelligence official said Tuesday Osama bin laden is in Pakistan actively re-establishing al Qaeda training camps.

Telegraph:

Osama bin Laden has re-established control over a terrorist network along the Pakistan and Afghan border, according to US sources.

American security officials claim that bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, have rebuilt an operations hub in the mountainous Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan.

"The chain of command has been re-established," The New York Times reported one US government official as saying. The official added that the al-Qa'eda "leadership command and control is robust".

Along the same lines, ABC has also reported on a suicide tape that was recently released by a militant Islamist website: Anatomy of a Suicide Attack

The tape shows a suicide bomber, a young man, in a beat-up Toyota loaded with explosives. The ease with which his bomb was prepared is documented on the tape, released on the Internet by al Qaeda's propaganda arm this week.

Also, just days ago, Britain's MI-5 issued a Secret report: Terror threat worst since 9/11

The terrorist threat facing Britain from home-grown al-Qaeda agents is higher than at any time since the September 11 attacks in 2001, secret intelligence documents reveal.

The number of British-based Islamic terrorists plotting suicide attacks against "soft" targets in this country is far greater than the Security Services had previously believed, the government paperwork discloses. It is thought the plotters could number more than 2,000.

The document, which has been circulated across Whitehall to MI5, Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorist Command, the Home Office, the Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Defence, also reveals that al-Qaeda has grown into a world-wide organisation with a foothold in virtually every Muslim country in North Africa, the Middle East and central Asia.

This is not a report to be taken idly. However, AntiWar.com does not see the problem: The Overblown Terror Threat and Islamophobia. The author, Abukar Arman, quotes extensively from Professor John Mueller, a best-selling author who likes to debunk terror threats, see an interview with him here: Is Terrorism Threat Overblown?

Mueller is quoted:

"If there were any sleeper cells or al-Qaeda operatives who are as determined, as inventive and as demonically competent as assumed, why have they not done it yet, especially when carrying a terrorist act does not require flying planes into buildings? Could it be because they are not yet here? If not, they must not been trying hard enough or perhaps they are far less dedicated, diabolical, and competent than we are being told."

As I recall, Islamic terrorist attacks have been repeatedly broken up in the U.S. before they have reached fruition. Britain, too has been successful, although let's not forget the March 2005 bombings in London, or the Madrid bombings.

More:

He repeatedly pointed out the sheer absurdity that justifies the post 9/11 fear-driven policies and initiatives. He said the FBI embraces a spooky line of reasoning that he refers to as "I-think-therefore-they-are."

According to Professor Mueller, it is this kind of mindset combined with the rhetoric of fear-mongering politicians whose aim often is to frighten voters to their side; lazy journalism and the media's desire to sensationalize the news; and those in the security business who are motivated to seize this golden opportunity to push their services and maximize their profits that perpetuate the terrorism industry, keep Muslims demonized, and the anti-terrorism laws irrationally rigid.

Contrast this view with the facts: Muslim terror cells broken up in England, attacks foiled in the United States, numerous Islamic attacks that have not been documented as "terror" (See the Nashville cabbie killing and Utah mall shooting), along with Muslims killing civilians and their own family members here in the west with impunity, and a very different picture is painted of Islam in the west.

Increasingly, Islamic terror threats appear to have become a tapestry of angry, disenfranchised, frustrated muslims who have come to not accept their adopted homeland. This threat, combined with that of professional, organized terror cells, should keep the average American - the average westerner - on their toes.