9/11: six years later
[My 9/11 story can be found here.] It’s been six years since 9/11. Too long for it to remain fresh in our minds, but too soon to know how the aftermath will ultimately go. We are still engaged in what … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Terrorism and terrorists
Terrorism and American geographic exceptionalism
One aspect of the traditional idea of American Exceptionalism included the notion that its geography kept the US safe from foreign invasion. This was historically true for the most part. Pearl Harbor was the singular exception, as far as I … Continue reading →
More about those “inept” terrorists
I recently read two diametrically opposed pieces about the dangerousness—or lack thereof—of the recent terrorist bombing attempts in Britain. The first, by Steve Schippert at National Review Online, criticizes the reasoning of those who would buy into what I’ve called … Continue reading →
Who’s afraid of the big bad terrorists?
Police speculate that three recent car bomb incidents in Britain are related. Perhaps al Qaeda is part of the picture, perhaps not. But all three car bombs had a similar modus operandi to one another, and the outcomes of all … Continue reading →
The eyes have it: Atta and company
Over two years ago I wrote a post about Mohammed Atta’s eyes. In it, I quoted an airline employee who waited on Mohammed Atta early on the morning of 9/11, and described him thusly: It was just the look on … Continue reading →
The al-Marri case and beyond: what do you do with a suspected terrorist? (Part III)
Disagreements on how to deal with suspected or actual terrorists who are in our custody rest on some basic assumptions, legal and otherwise. The first of these is whether or not we are at war or the equivalent of war, … Continue reading →
The incredible shrinking (or is it growing?) al Qaeda
Al Qaeda is a secret organization. It doesn’t publish statistics on how many members it has, and if it did we wouldn’t believe them anyway, because for al Qaeda propaganda trumps veracity every time. And yet lack of specific knowledge … Continue reading →
Insider assassinations in the third world
Today a suicide bomber in the Iraqi Parliament managed to kill eight people, and preliminary reports have it that the bomber was a security guard. Whether or not the report of the bomber’s identity turns out to be true, the … Continue reading →
Strategies for children (Part II): killing them
[Part I, “saving them,” is here.] Children are the future of any society. This makes them a double-edged sword: since most cultures are devoted to the protection and nurturance of their own children, most societies are uniquely vulnerable when those … Continue reading →
Are all hatreds alike?–becoming “just like them”
Recently I rented the movie “United 93.” The edition I watched included an addendum to the film, interviews with families of some of the passengers on Flight 93 who’d been featured in it. This was almost as interesting as the … Continue reading →
Essay: Isn’t it Romantic?
I’ve got an essay up at Pajamas Media. Topic: “Isn’t it Romantic?: suicide, homicide, terrorism, and Romanticism.” That’s “Romantic” with a capital R.
Continue reading →Cat-and-mouse, jihadis and the “surge:” they can run, but can they hide?
I wondered about it a few days ago: what’s to stop the terrorists/jihadis/insurgents in Iraq from running away in the face of the proposed surge, and living to fight another day? The answer seems to be “nothing, at least for … Continue reading →