Richard Clarke:The Times Square bomb failed. What will we do when the next bomb works?

more at link
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/07/AR2010050702257.html

On Christmas Day, a 23-year-old Nigerian engineering student allegedly tried to destroy an airplane flying into Detroit. One week ago, an American citizen of Pakistani origin allegedly attempted to detonate a car bomb in New York's Times Square. Neither effort succeeded -- not because U.S. authorities intercepted the attackers, but because the bombmaking skills of the wannabe terrorists were lacking.

In both instances, much of the subsequent debate has centered on how the attacks were able to get as far as they did. The unfortunate fact is that such cases represent a kind of terrorism that is virtually impossible to disrupt. These attempts will continue, and from time to time one of them will succeed, with many dead and injured. The more relevant question, therefore, is: How will we respond when that car bomb does go off?

The reason such attacks are hard to stop is rooted in the identity of the attackers. They often seem to be successful or well-educated members of society, uninvolved in any form of radicalism. But then, the drip-drip of terrorist propaganda -- either on the Internet or circulated through friends -- has its effect. They quietly make contact with radical groups overseas, perhaps even traveling abroad for training and indoctrination. They throw away the life they have made in the West and agree to stage an attack. Faisal Shahzad, the alleged Times Square terrorist, fits that profile, as have others in the United States and Europe.

For U.S. intelligence and law enforcement authorities, these newly minted terrorists are the hardest to stop. They may not be part of any known cell; there is no reason for their phones or e-mail accounts to come under surveillance. When they buy rifles, handguns, tanks of propane gas or fertilizer, they are doing nothing out of the ordinary in American society.

and if we cleaned up our relationship with the rest of the world, the desire of people to blow us up might actually decline...

and if we prosecute the war crimes, they might actually respect us again as a people.

can't be stopped. Oh, some can be stopped, but not all. No way. It is only a matter of time before one is successful.

from attacking President Obama and his administration endlessly for being "soft on terror" if and when an attack inevitably succeeds (which, unfortunately, one probably will-eventually). If President Bush had done something (anything) to try to prevent 9/11 from occurring, I might've been a little more forgiving of him but he didn't and yet he seemingly got a "free pass" (and gonzo poll numbers) from the Republicans and the media even when it was demonstrated that he was clearly negligent in following up more on the intelligence reports he received prior to 9/11. I mean, so far, Republicans are screaming bloody murder over ATTEMPTED attacks that were NOT successful and, although most people aren't screaming for President Obama's head over these attempted attacks nor toeing the Republican line on his administration's response to them, polling indicates that the public still (somehow) believes that the Republicans are *stronger* on terrorism than Democrats (I guess a lot of people don't mind torture, indefinite detention, etc?). I have no doubt that Republicans will probably be demanding President Obama's head....er....impeachment if and when an attack ultimately succeeds. What are we going to do to recondition people to understand that NO President, Democratic or Republican, will (realistically) be able to prevent/stop every.single.attack? I have every confidence that President Obama and his administration are intelligent and, more importantly, competent individuals whom will do everything they can to keep our country safe and secure while they are in office but I don't believe that they are infallible nor do I believe that they will never make mistakes or fail to see something coming- but I know that they'll do whatever they can to the best of their abilities and I believe that that's all that we can ask them to do, right? :shrug:

:grin:
I would actually love to see Jesse Ventura have a few minutes with Dick Cheney. IMHO I think that if more people watched something like what "Mancow" had done to himself (and filmed), they might not be so eager to embrace such methods. I mean, he didn't last even a minute being waterboarded and acknowledged quite readily that it is torture. I think that, conceptually, the Republican's "tough" talk on torture sounds better than it actually is to most people.

Just regular old bullies, one and all.

It's a shame so many otherwise decent people are easily manipulated/impressed by such behavior.

will, when a terrorist attack succeeds, point their fingers at those who opposed those very policies. The Republicans and their lap dog media will "prove" that these finger-pointers are correct, and we'll suffer through even more backwards policies and more Republicans as a result.

It's only obvous this WILL happen; it's what happened with 9-11 and our phony "war on terror" response in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's so true that those who don't understand history are doomed to repeat it.

during the troubles.