Prof. Glenn Reynolds shares archive from that fateful day
TOM CLANCY WAS RIGHT: (Reposted from earlier today) And we're living one of his scenarios right now. Not much is known for sure, but it's obvious that the United States is the target of a major terrorist assault. There's a lot of bloviation on the cable news channels, most of which will turn out to be wrong or misleading later. Here, for your consideration, are a few points to be taken from past experience:
The Fog of War: Nobody knows much right now. Many things that we think we know are likely to be wrong.
Overreaction is the Terrorist's Friend: Even in major cases like this, the terrorist's real weapon is fear and hysteria. Overreacting will play into their hands.
It's Not Just Terrorists Who Take Advantage: Someone will propose new "Antiterrorism" legislation. It will be full of things off of bureaucrats' wish lists. They will be things that wouldn't have prevented these attacks even if they had been in place yesterday. Many of them will be civil-liberties disasters. Some of them will actually promote the kind of ill-feeling that breeds terrorism. That's what happened in 1996. Let's not let it happen again.
Only One Antiterrorism Method Works: That's punishing those behind it. The actual terrorists are hard to reach. But terrorism of this scale is always backed by governments. If they're punished severely -- and that means severely, not a bombed aspirin-factory but something that puts those behind it in the crosshairs -- this kind of thing won't happen again. That was the lesson of the Libyan bombing.
"Increased Security" Won't Work. When you try to defend everything, you defend nothing. Airport security is a joke because it's spread so thin that it can't possibly stop people who are really serious. You can't prevent terrorism by defensive measures; at most you can stop a few amateurs who can barely function. Note that the increased measures after TWA 800 (which wasn't terrorism anyway, we're told) didn't prevent what appear to be coordinated hijackings. (Archie Bunker's plan, in which each passenger is issued a gun on embarking, would have worked better). Deterrence works here, just as everywhere else. But you have to be serious about it.
For now, the terrorists have won. They've shut down the U.S. government, more or less. They've shut down air travel. They're all over TV. But whether they really win depends on how we deal with this; hysterically, or like angry -- but measured -- adults.
6 comments:
It's clear that reason, logic, and the truth have little effect on what we actually do as a nation. We feel, we vote (many with no wisdom at all), and we start up the machine with a rapacious appetite and an insatiable nature. It's still running like mad with 4% effectiveness stuffed hoppers and yet as hungry as ever. We don't believe we can live without it now, with thousands riding the machine to "work" every day.
Nobody has ever explained to me why there has not been another big terrorist attack since 9/11. It's incredibly easy to pull off - a single individual could kill thousands with very little in resources in a number of ways. The motivation is stronger than ever. The resources available to our enemies are in the hundreds of millions of dollars. We remain the primary and most highly valued target. We are literally helpless against even a mildly intelligent terrorist. What is preventing this? It's enough to make you believe in a righteous God.
I think Iran leaders, the mullahs, are very interested in an attack.
Once they have a bomb, it's going to be very difficult to stop them.
Repeat my comment from there
Sarah Palin got it right -
You don't subsidize terrorism, you kill it!
Well, maybe there hasn't been another comparable attack here since 9/11 but IMO we're in a much weaker position than we were in then. The most we can hope for going forward is that Europe will not succumb quickly to Islam. But succumb it will. Look at the demographics. Look at the cringing socialist appeasers that comprise the European ruling class. When Europe becomes Eurabia where will we be? Not only alone but alone with a muslim population of our own growing at warp speed. Estimates vary from 7 - 9 million muslims in America now. Soon an honest assessment of Islam will be criminalized as hate speech. Go to youtube and watch the videos of dear sweet muslim children marching in a parade somewhere in Michigan (I think Hamtramck) screaming about conquering America and throwing rocks and bricks at some natives who dare hold up signs critical of the ROP. That's nothing compared to what's happening in London or Oslo or Stockholm and the horrors in those cities are coming to ours. We're next.
I'm seriously mystified by the lack of a single substantial attack since 9/11. Considering everything I wrote above and all the time that has passed with us as the mosted hated entity to Islamists worldwide including here at home, I would expect constant bridges being taken out, water supplies poisoned, biological agents in air conditioning systems, $100 drones delivering anthrax over a high school football game, etc, etc.
Explain it to me. They certainly want to do those things to us, and nobody is preventing them, so why have they not? I'd like to hear a plausible explanation. Maybe they think Obama is enough punishment and damage for one great Satan.
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