Some have argued the threat that Al Qaeda and others of their kind represents is overstated. I thought it might be useful to provide these links to some lists of attacks.

Here is a list of 31 attacks all over the world from Tony Blair...

http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/page7930.asp

Here is a list of 10 *thwarted* attacks from "others" and Al Qaeda...granted some were closer to pulling he trigger than others...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/09/whiteh ... index.html

Here from the dreaded Wikipedia is a map of 15 attacks on 4 continents....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Terr ... lQaeda.png

and an article discussing many more...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda#I ... o_al-Qaeda


How much terrorism is "too much?"

galanter wrote:Some have argued the threat that Al Qaeda and others of their kind represents is overstated. I thought it might be useful to provide these links to some lists of attacks.

Here is a list of 31 attacks all over the world from Tony Blair...

http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/page7930.asp

Here is a list of 10 *thwarted* attacks from "others" and Al Qaeda...granted some were closer to pulling he trigger than others...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/09/whiteh ... index.html

Here from the dreaded Wikipedia is a map of 15 attacks on 4 continents....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Terr ... lQaeda.png

and an article discussing many more...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Qaeda#I ... o_al-Qaeda


How much terrorism is "too much?"

I don't know of any serious arguments that state that Al Qaeda/terrorism is not a real threat. But Al Qaeda is not what you think it is. It is not a simple evil orginization complete with a hierarchy of madmen constructing a "Death Star" as our administration would like for you to believe. It's more complicated than that. I suggest Jason Burke's book Al Qaeda:The True Story of Radical Islam. He is considered by many to be one of the few experts on Al Qaeda style terrorism. His 2004 article published in Foreign Policy is a good place to start. Google it.

Terrorism is very real. That is uncontroversial. I think what you fail to grasp is the reason that it exists.

nihil wrote:

Terrorism is very real. That is uncontroversial. I think what you fail to grasp is the reason that it exists.

Thanks for attempting to win the hearts and minds of the terrorists. You are very smart, and part of the solution, not the problem.

There are some here (notably Steve) who keep insisting that Islamic terrorism is a trivial threat. Just like Hezbollah is a trivial threat to Israel. Just like, I presume, Iranian nukes will be a trivial threat.

Apologists for terrorism who insist it's somehow the fault of the victims are on the wrong side of history, rationality, and morality.

galanter wrote:There are some here (notably Steve) who keep insisting that Islamic terrorism is a trivial threat. Just like Hezbollah is a trivial threat to Israel. Just like, I presume, Iranian nukes will be a trivial threat.

Apologists for terrorism who insist it's somehow the fault of the victims are on the wrong side of history, rationality, and morality.

You're getting shrill. Iranian nukes have little to do with Hezbollah, who in turn have little to do with Al Qaeda. I dislike this habit of people unilaterally lassoing other people together to fit their clash of civilisations rhetoric.

You're linked lists and maps above have inspired me with an idea which sadly I doubt I'd have time to implement in the near future. It would be to make a series of maps locating selected atrocities over the past century. There could be one for those associated with the CIA/Pentagon, one for the British colonialists, one for the Soviets, one for the French, one for Islamic terrorists, one for nationalist terror groups...

Islamic terror groups would not make the top three, Phil. Top five, probably.

We aren't apologists for terrorists, and your casual labelling annoys me. They're killers and I am tired of having to repeat that I think they're a bunch of nasty penises.

EDIT in attempt to reduce meaness.

galanter said

Some have argued the threat that Al Qaeda and others of their kind represents is overstated.

well, maybe it would be reasonable to examine the total number of deaths from terrorism in context of some actual problems and see which is more serious.

total deaths from al qaida "inspired" attacks in the 12 years between 1993 and 2005 across the entire planet, in 31 separate attacks.
4027


Number of people killed since the start of the current US campaign in Iraq
43269


total highway deaths in the US alone in 2002 alone
42815


Total number of Americans shot dead by other Americans in 2002 alone
30242


People killed in accidental falls in the US alone in 2002
13,322


So I feel safe in saying that Al Qaida is less of a problem than road safety, gun laws, the US policy in Iraq, Heart Disease, AIDS, paper cuts etc etc

Unregulated capitalism flat out kills more people or slowly drains the life out of them than any other ideology. Kills hope, promotes fear, kills resources.

I will contend that a life working in an Indian rug factory or a Chinese slave labor camp is a misery equal to a quick death in some US skyscraper.

The U.S. should really get some new ladders.... or some training videos called "Stop falling to your deaths, Americans".

jasoned said

The U.S. should really get some new ladders.... or some training videos called "Stop falling to your deaths, Americans".

I think the most effective thing would be a "ladder alert system", shaped like a ladder and ranging from green to red - green meaning "safe to change that lightbulb", and red meaning "everyone in the country lie down on your backs on the ground"

galanter wrote:There are some here (notably Steve) who keep insisting that Islamic terrorism is a trivial threat. Just like Hezbollah is a trivial threat to Israel. Just like, I presume, Iranian nukes will be a trivial threat.

Apologists for terrorism who insist it's somehow the fault of the victims are on the wrong side of history, rationality, and morality.

Last post on this one. But I just wanted to make the point that you are talking about a threat of mass violence. Inadavertently, through paying our taxes, we've brought violence and pain to many.