PHOTOS, PAGE 1

       Editor and prime reporter is Doug Terry, a veteran television and radio reporter in   Washington, DC, (details below)

Why does it take so long for someone to make some sense of terrorism instead of overreacting, again and again? We’ve been writing about it on the TerryReport for years, since the time right after 9-11, 2001, in fact. The Islamic terrorists are not the overwhelming danger they were protrayed to be by the Bush administration and, in fact, we only help them in their cause if we go into a panic. To wit, the decision by Obama to spend one billion dollars buying new strip search machines. Fareed Zakaria, writing in the Washington Post, gives a fair assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the terrorism wave that launched, so far, only one sustained, widely coordinated terror strike in the US. Zakaria puts it this way:

     “The attempted bombing says more about al-Qaeda's weakened state than its strength. In the eight years before Sept. 11, al-Qaeda was able to launch large-scale terrorist attacks on several continents. It targeted important symbols of American power -- embassies in Africa; a naval destroyer, the USS Cole; and, of course, the World Trade Center. The operations were complex -- a simultaneous bombing of two embassies in different countries -- and involved dozens of people of different nationalities who trained around the world, moved significant sums of money and coordinated their efforts over months, sometimes years.” **(see below)

The United States had a national nervous breakdown after the attacks of 9-11. We were stunned beyond belief and, partly as a result, we attributed far more power to the terrorists than they deserved. When you are in an extreme state of mind, reason slides away. Instead of looking at the components of how the attacks were put together and realizing that the whole thing was shaky and could have been defeated, we inflated the terrorists into clever monsters who might strike again, anywhere, any time.

The Bush administration, filled with people who were no dullards despite their popular reputation, played right into this fear and built it like a bon fire. The public overreaction was understandable, because most people didn’t pay much attention to the terrorist attacks that were building around the world prior to 9-11. What happened “over there” was not important and piror events, like the first attack on the Trade Towers and the bombing of PanAm Flight 103, mainly effected those directly involved without searing into the national consciousness.  The same vast overreaction to 9-11 by the media, reporters, editors and producers, was not as forgivable, but probably reflected the fact that most people in the American media have very little experience overseas and, thus, not much interest either.

As Zakaria says in the WashPost, most people (not the TerryReport) imagined there would have been far more horrific attacks by now. Because of that one “lucky strike” and because it was so spectacular, people overreacted and imagined that the terrorists could do almost anything they wanted. The TerryReport has been pointing for years that the broad stroke, little fact view of terrorism is wrong and can lead to serious, major mistakes.

The attacks of 9-11 were tactical and strategic blunders for bin Laden and his merry band of fanatics. They did not achieve the goal (causing the US to retreat from the world stage), but instead cost bin Laden many of his top people, provided the basis for an eruption of US involvement in the middle and near east and turned many in the Islamic world away from al Queda forever. Had the US captured or killed bin Laden in the mountains, the victory he provided by his own overreaching would have been virtually complete.

A more responsible national government than one headed by Bush/Cheney could have calmed fears instead of fanning them. Bush wanted all the power he could get from this ugly gift left on his doorstep. Cheney, having retreated into his own world of doomsday fantasies, acted like there was no other course but to take the country into whatever war might be available. Unfortunately, Obama has now adopted some of the Bush legacy, declaring in his speech at West Point that the battle against terrorism will be “the enduring struggle of our time”.

An editor’s note: for some reason, Zakaria failed to mention the attack on the Pentagon as part of 9-11 and the planned attack on either the White House (most likely) or the Capitol Building, which was the evident intent of the hijackers of the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania, with the help of the passengers.  In the minds of many, the crumbling of the World Trade Towers became the lasting symbol of that day and the Washington/Pennsylvania events more of an afterthought.

**The build up toward 9-11 outlined by Zakaria brings up an important point: who is to say that the attacks in New York and Washington were not the ultimate al Qaeda could ever imagine doing? Why should those horrific events be thought of as the start of something more, than than the conclusion of that wave of terrorism? Having planned that big splash, having held out the hope that it would mean the retreat of American power around the world and, most importantly, having touched off two wars and numerous smaller counter-terrorism wars elsewhere, why should we assume that these guys can’t learn an important lesson?

We should always keep in mind that al Qaeda and bin Laden chose America as an enemy. They picked us because they thought we were a hopeless, fearful giant. They could stomp, hard, on our toes, show the world their power and that would be it. Done. Now, they know they picked the wrong enemy and that taking down America is a much bigger job than they ever imagined.

One mistake we make, further, is to assume that these people are sophisticated about our country, its size and its power. They feed themselves on propaganda about America, rather than facts. Those who have studied in this country have done so with constant drumbeat of resentment and anger pounding in their heads. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed was said to have never touched an American, even to shake hands, when he studied in North Carolina. That sort of isolation involves a great deal of discipline and carefully nurtured hatred, something that keeps him, and others like him, from understanding the enemy they have chosen. In the wake of such forceful ignorance great misunderstandings can bloom.

They are, indeed, even ignorant of the history of their own regions. They have chosen to blame the western powers for everything wrong in the Arab and Islamic worlds, ignoring their own leaders who generations ago forbade studies of knowledge that was developing in the western countries and, thus, helping to ensure their backward state in terms of industrialization and technology.  This ignorance helped to fuel the rage that led to 9-11.

Very much like the idea that Ronald Reagan ended the cold war on his own, the beliefs of the terrorists are tailored to fit their needs, rather than the facts. This doesn’t mean that aren’t dangerous. It means they have glaring weaknesses which, whether we exploit them or not, can bring them down by their own hands. 9-11 appeared to be an intelligent plot aimed at the heart of America, but it was that only in part. Because they have forced themselves to remain ignorant of us, they were unable to conjure a plot that could actually bring down  America. There is no reason to assume in their favor that they have done so in the years since, for it is a task which they cannot hope achieve in any case. (Hopelessness is the mark of the terrorist, however.)

What we have seen since 2001 is a developing pattern of what might be called freelance terrorism. While some attacks have ties to existing groups, we are seeing small bands, inspired by the death and destruction of 9-11, who want to make their name in terrorist history with some sort of attack. The randomness and lack of organization make fighting them more difficult, but it is wrong to conflate such a copycat terrorism wave to what happened more than eight years ago.

Doug Terry, 1.11.10

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