Brining out the AL Qaeda Bogeyman

[Henry]

ok, why the hell is there always a terrorist threat a couple of weeks before a US local or presidential election, its very fishy. also from what i garner with the US media, yemen and oman appear to be two areas getting alot of coverage, possibly prepping the nation for an "invasion" to beat the "AL Qaeda Bogeyman". its all very circumspect.

basically i think the "AL Qaeda Bogeyman" is brought out everytime the government want to sway the election or get across an agenda.
being honest i truly think the the latest terrorist threat is the biggest load of horseshit I have ever heard in my entire life and the media pimp's are pushing it harder than pimped out whore on crystal meth

Beep...Beep..Beep...- latest news - Santa dropping packages down your chimney - must be true it was on the news.

[Darth Rock&Roll]

I think the economic war is gonna show up on dubais doorstep soon.

Just a week or so ago, Canada was forced to shut down a military air base that we were going to use as our point to withdraw our guys from afghanistan.
Why?
Because emirates wanted more access to our airports and we didn't want to give it to them

Now, the bombs that were mailed to the schuls in Chicago were on Emirates planes.

There is a lot of western money tied up in UAE. Who wants to bet that gets taken back over the next 6 months and the war over there is expanded?

[Steve James]

How is this associated with the Democrats, again? Obama is not running. True or not, it benefits the image of the security agencies, not any party. Democrats didn't find the bombs --if bombs existed-- and can't get credit for doing it. A more likely scenario for "pre-election" propaganda would be a false GDP or employment result. Ok, maybe it could be a distraction from domestic economic woes or a reason for strengthening the "Patriot Act." Anyway, how many people do ya'll think will change their vote because of this? I should ask "How many Independents, Republicans or Tea Partyers" will suddenly vote Democrat?

[yusuf]

And the flip side is also interesting to analyse..last week the Uk released street policing figures. The terrorism acts passed since 911 have allowed 'stop and search' of people who look like they might be committing terrorist acts (i.e walking around while looking like a muslim).. over 100,000 stop and searches, not a single conviction ..

how many front pages did that get in the news... tumble fucking weed

[Snork]

It's just become a kind of low-level harassment, it doesn't seem to have any real benefit at all. I've been stopped and searched twice by very apologetic policemen, I'm sure it's only because they can't be seen to be doing it to muslims all the time. I fear the anti-terror laws might never be repealed...

[Andy_S]

When I think how easy it would be to commit a nasty terrorist act in a Western democracy, I feel that either:
(1) Terrorists are incompetenet fools;
(2) There are not as many terrorists as we think/there are not as many competent terrorists as we think; or
(3) The security services are doing a damned good job pre-empting strikes, foiling plots, whacking jihadis, etc, etc.


Or perhaps it is a combination of all three.

[I-mon]

Well I certainly still get 'randomly' searched every time I go through customs

[Muad'dib]

Andy S has nailed the correct.

I am personally highly in Favor of #3.

[Steve James]

I'd say that it's number 2. I do not believe that any security service can function without the assistance of the locals (and/or friends, relatives, countrymen). That is what they say happened in this case: i.e., that the Saudis (i.e. Muslims) tipped us off. Of course, they would, since they are the targets of a minority. The father of the underwear bomber also alerted everyone he could.

Of course, if ya think that all Muslims are terrorists --or are potentially-- then --considering there are a billion plus of them-- the number of real terrorists must be smaller than many imagine. Don't worry, the number of competent terrorists is almost sure to rise ... probably in proportion to the number of invasions, detentions, searches and anti-Islamic rhetoric. Shucks, a more worrying concern is that there is a trend away from "suicide bombings." I.e., less symbolism, more tactics. The longer any conflict goes on, the better the tactics must become.

[Chris Fleming]

"There are not as many terrorists as we think"

Or maybe it should be put: there are not as many terrorists as we are told there are.

From hoax underwear bombers to CIA funded Al-Queda who apparently can from their cave make NORAD stand down, I don't believe we have anything to be afraid of, save our own rights-destroying government.

Placing 6 year olds on "terror watch" lists and installing naked body scanners in airports is definitely not reducing the likelihood of a real attack at all.

[rob2]

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[Darthwing Teorist]

CIA funded Al-Queda who apparently can from their cave make NORAD stand down

Technically, both Al-Qaida's and NORAD's HQs are in caves.