Two recent failed terrorism attempts have some wondering if terrorists are losing their touch. Christian Science Monitor reports:
Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-born US citizen arrested and charged with the attempted attack, appears to have had little real training in explosives technique, according to US officials. And the Times Square bungle was preceded by the Christmas Day incident in which a Muslim Nigerian man on a Northwest Airlines flight tried, and failed, to ignite plastic explosives sewn into his underwear.
Are these twin flops evidence of systemic ineptitude? Perhaps. But it is at least as likely that they show Al Qaeda and its allies have moved towards a new, more decentralized, method of targeting the US and other Western nations.
Although the attacks on 9/11 were spectacular and highly destructive, experts note that typical terrorist attacks are generally less coordinated and more amateurish.
In a way, what the US is seeing now may be judged a return to more usual terrorist tactics.
After all, terrorism, by definition, is an attention-getting strategy employed by those without the ability to mount conventional military attacks.
Criminologist Gary LaFree explains:
“Terrorism is a tool of the less-powerful, and they use what they have at hand,” says Gary LaFree, a professor of criminology and director of the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism at the University of Maryland in College Park.
The deadly successes of the 9/11 attacks perhaps have made Islamist terrorists appear more competent than they are, in general. Mr. LaFree counts some 50 or 60 thwarted attacks linked to Al Qaeda or its allies since 2001.
“Terrorists use readily available, low-tech weapons, and they often screw up,” says LaFree.
Comments 4
leis0082 — May 8, 2010
Overall, I would say "flopping" is probably not the right word. Americans now and forever will be on their toes looking out for suspicious activity. Terrorists have accomplished a part of their mission which is to put fear into the American public. Never consider it a flop when an enemy has endless motivation. At the same time it is interesting to notice how terrorism struggles to work from a smaller unit acting on a larger unit. As long as terrorists don't have the tools or advanced weapons, Americans should probably relatively successful in thwarting attacks. As long as the American and public don't let their guard down, I think terrorism will have a hard time succeeding on American soil.
Danielle Ketterer — May 9, 2010
Thankfully, these mentioned terrorist attempts "failed," but I don't feel that this is a result of terrorists "losing their touch." The excerpt included in this article stated there have been around 50 or 60 failed attacks since 2001, but how many similar attempts were made between one of the last major terrorist attacks and 9/11? I'm sure the numbers are fairly similar. Such attempts could instead be viewed as merely the continuation of attempts of less central members of Al Qaeda, while more central members remain in much tighter secrecy, continually plotting for the next substantial attack, more on par with the severity of 9/11.
mele0051 — May 12, 2010
I agree with Danielle's response. There is probably a similar statistic between every major terrorist attack. I find it kind of odd that there are people in America who choose to point out the flaws in their attempted attacks, however. It almost seems like mocking? Why would we mock those who have already shown us what they are capable of? Yeah, maybe right now they are on a long string of "fails", but it's only a matter of time before one tiny little slip in our defensive and the cycle starts over again.
I also believe that following the 9/11 attacks, we are on the lookout more for terrorist threats. There are many things in society that could be viewed as a terrorist threat and/or attack. I think it could be a tough call on what is legitimate and what is simply unfamiliar behavior.
Ted — March 3, 2011
The reason that 9/11 was so successful was because it was not carried out by terrorists. It was carried out by a number of highly intelligent, very powerful, and incredibly well-financed individuals with almost unlimited access to and influence over every controllable variable in the theater of operation. We have to stop viewing 9/11 as a terrorist attack. It was a highly coordinated false-flag operation supported by the most effective propaganda campaign yet known in human history, and carried out specifically to justify U.S. aggression in regions of the world that pose a threat to U.S. access to resources and/or related geopolitical interests in those parts of the world.