# I don't understand why there is not MORE terrorism in America **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 11, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895 "2011-09-11T01:14:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/1 "2011-09-11T01:14:12Z")
Over the past ten years, we have heard non-stop talk and worry about terrorism. But, oddly enough, there has been almost no actual terrorism. I don’t understand WHY THIS IS. It’s driving me insane. It’s such a simple question, but I know there has to be more to it. Mass chaos is _so easy to cause._ Anything from driving a truck into a big crowd of people, to setting off a very basic bomb in a crowded area - a bomb that could be made easily out of stuff you can buy at any hardware store. The terrorists don’t seem to be concerned with sacrificing their _own_ lives, which makes it _so much easier_ for them to pull off their attacks. They don’t have to worry about escape plans. I simply cannot believe that US “Homeland Security” is so good at their jobs that the terrorists are totally unable to coordinate even a simple attack like a small bomb at a mall or restaurant. NOT ONLY THAT - but I’m amazed that there aren’t more terrorist attacks by totally random, deranged people who are unaffiliated with any religious terrorist organization and just want to cause carnage for its own sake. Every now and then there’s a shooting spree, but you hardly ever hear about bombing murders. Even though it’s so easy to kill massive numbers of people with bombs. In short, I am utterly amazed that there is less terrorism in America. Is the leadership of terror organizations that incompetent? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/2 "2011-09-11T01:20:53Z")
Well, for one thing there’s less reason to bother when America has been doing such a good job of ruining itself. Attacking would risk disturbing the process of self destruction. For another, right wing terrorism in this country almost never gets called terrorism. All the violence and shootings over medical reform never got labeled terrorism; if it had been a bunch of Muslims or leftists doing the same thing it would have. Death threats and shootings of doctors who perform abortions doesn’t get labeled terrorism, nor does KKK style racist violence. It’s only “terrorism” if it’s foreign, Muslim or left wing violence. ---
**Author:** ![AbloyProtec](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9f8e36/32.png) [@AbloyProtec](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbloyProtec)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/3 "2011-09-11T01:33:14Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > shootings of doctors who perform abortions doesn’t get labeled terrorism Surely, sir, you jest. [Cites 2 thru 7.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_George_Tiller#cite_note-1) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/4 "2011-09-11T01:39:55Z")
Apparently, there’s not more terrorism in America because there are not enough Americans who want to do it. Some, but so few that any one of their outrages can fill up the news for weeks. (I doubt it’s like that in Israeli media.) ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/5 "2011-09-11T01:40:17Z")
> [@AbloyProtec](#): > > Surely, sir, you jest. > > [Cites 2 thru 7.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_George_Tiller#cite_note-1) :rolleyes: Fine. The _mainstream media_ refuses to call it terrorism. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/6 "2011-09-11T01:41:45Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > In short, I am utterly amazed that there is less terrorism in America. Is the leadership of terror organizations that incompetent? In a similar vein, I have always found it weird how few people get killed in mass shootings (except, of course, with the Norwegian one). Am I the only one to have stood in a crowded train station and thought “with a couple of guns I can destroy this place?” when what usually happens is they get 5-10. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/7 "2011-09-11T01:46:13Z")
I sometimes think about this too, and my explanation is that the vast majority of people simply don’t want to cause harm and chaos. Even if they are inclined to cause havoc it’s a pain in the ass, and the consequences can be very inconvenient. I think it may just be as simple as that. This is also why I’ve always been skeptical about the threat supposedly presented by Muslims. There are between [1.3 and 4 million Muslims living in the United States](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam_in_the_United_States#Demographics), and some [1.5 billion worldwide.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Muslim_population) Even if it’s just the really radical ones who are a threat, I think that’s enough of a sample size that we should be seeing more problems. I’ve always felt that with those numbers if they really are out to get us, they’re either really patient or really incompetent. But really, I just don’t think many people are out to cause problems, Muslim or not. Trouble is, it’s tragic and sometimes spectacular when bad things do happen, and this causes fear out of proportion to any real or ongoing threat. Sort of like when an airliner crashes. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/8 "2011-09-11T01:46:27Z")
I think it’s a matter of definition. But blowing up shit for political purposes? No, it doesn’t happen _all the time_ and it would be easy. The other day I almost burst into tears thinking about how easy it would be for someone to blow themselves up at an elementary school. But it happens. [Here’s an incomplete/unofficial list](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_the_United_States#2000s) complied by Wiki editors. A snippet: > [@](#): > > ``` > 2009 May 31: Assassination of George Tiller. Dr. George Tiller, a doctor who provided late-term abortions was shot to death in a Wichita, Kansas church. Tiller was shot previously in 1993, and his abortion clinic had been bombed in 1985. Alleged assassin Scott Roeder, who believes in justifiable homicide of abortion providers, was arrested for the killing.[52][53] > > 2009 May 25: Crude bomb explodes in a Starbucks in Manhattan's Upper East Side. On July 14, Kyle Shaw age 17 was arrested and plead not guilty. Police said his motive was to emulate "Project Mayhem" a series of assaults on corporate America portrayed in the movie Fight Club.[54] Shaw's lawyer claimed he was a "troubled youth". On November 16, 2010, Shaw was sentenced to 3½ years in prison.[55] > > 2009 June 1: Arkansas recruiting office shooting One military recruiter was killed, and another critically injured, by gunshot at a Little Rock, Arkansas Army/Navy Career Center. The suspect, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, said he was part of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and upset over U.S. killing of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.[56] > > 2009 June 10: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum shooting. 88-year-old James Wenneker von Brunn walked into the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. and shot a guard, who later died. Von Brunn was critically wounded when security guards immediately returned fire.[57] On January 6, 2010, von Brunn died of natural causes at a hospital near where he was imprisoned.[58] Von Brunn was a self-described white supremacist and neo-Nazi.[59] > > 2009 November 5: Fort Hood Shooting, Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan opens fire and kills 13 people at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas in what Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano described as an act of “violent Islamic terrorism.” [60] > > ``` > > [edit] 2010-Present\*\* > > ``` > 2010 February 18: Joseph Stack flew a small plane into an IRS building in Austin, Texas, believed to be in retaliation to the U.S. Government. > > 2010 September 1: James J. Lee wearing explosives and carrying a gun took hostages at the headquarters of the Discovery Channel in Silver Spring, Maryland before being killed by police. He was protesting the channel's "anti environmental" message and programming encouraging birth of humans who he called filthy.[61][62] > > 2011 January 6: Three Packages detonate in the mail rooms of two Maryland state government buildings. No serious injuries.[63]** > > ``` It happens. I guess America cares about other things…? Edit: Islamic terrorism: > [@](#): > > 2009 Fort Hood shooting > 2009 Colleen LaRose arrested (not made public until March 2010) > 2009 Failed Christmas bombing of Northwest Flight 253 > 2010 Attempted suicide car crash on Whitestone Bridge > 2010 2010 Times Square car bomb attempt > 2010 King Salmon, Alaska local meteorologist and wife assassination plots > 2010 Alleged Washington Metro bomb plot > 2010 Alleged car bomb plot against Portland,Oregon Christmas tree lighting ceremony > 2010 Alleged plot to bomb military recruiting center in Catonsville, Maryland > 2010 Abu Talhah al-Amrikee death threats to South Park Creators- See: Zachary Adam Chesser [74] > 2011 Alleged Saudi Arabian student bomb plots > 2011 Manhattan terrorism plot ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/9 "2011-09-11T02:01:26Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Is the leadership of terror organizations that incompetent? If the shoe-bomber, underwear-bomber, and Times Square bomber are any indication, yes, they are. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/10 "2011-09-11T02:09:51Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > If the shoe-bomber, underwear-bomber, and Times Square bomber are any indication, yes, they are. Yes. Al Qaeda isn’t SPECTRE; it’s an extremely loose association of religious extremists. More of a brand name than an organization. And a group that has an entrance requirement of being willing to believe and do dumb things isn’t likely to be composed of geniuses. And that’s an entrance qualification for _most_ terrorist organizations. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/11 "2011-09-11T02:12:06Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I simply cannot believe that US “Homeland Security” is so good at their jobs that the terrorists are totally unable to coordinate even a simple attack like a small bomb at a mall or restaurant. In the past ten years there has been all kinds of successful terrorism against the US–economic terrorism. And it’s precisely because “Homeland Security” is so “good.” Al Queda’s real goal was to get the U.S. to spend so much on trying to prevent terrorism that it would have severe economic repercussions. They’ve succeeded. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/12 "2011-09-11T02:16:22Z")
They could cause so much _more_ damage to the economy, though. Look at how much disruption of the airlines 9/11 caused. The terrorists could do the same thing to bus transit, train transit, even ferries. Yet they don’t. They could do some highway bombings at major intersections or exits in heavy traffic. They don’t. So far all they’ve done is strike at air travel. Train travel has been unaffected. There is zero security at Amtrak stations. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/13 "2011-09-11T02:19:57Z")
According to foiled bomb plots, they’ve been working on it. Just not very well. ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/14 "2011-09-11T02:26:42Z")
Well, Los Angeles Union Station, for the past week at least, has been crawling with sheriff’s deputies armed with machine guns and body armor. So arguably the biggest target in LA was heavily patrolled. Wouldn’t stop anyone with the right skill and organizational ability from loading up half a dozen semi trucks with fuel oil and fertilizer and placing them strategically around the building to blow during rush hour. I’m thinking you could shut down DC pretty well just by blowing up all the Potomac River bridges. Something similar must be true for most major US cities. ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/15 "2011-09-11T02:28:56Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > According to foiled bomb plots, they’ve been working on it. Just not very well. Fanatics with tunnel vision and their ignorant henchmen can’t put together a successful operation? Imagine that. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/16 "2011-09-11T02:29:19Z")
With their access (taken) to booze, strippers, and porn, I’m surprised the 9/11 guys made their flights. A former employer would ship in their best and brightest from Japan and, after six months, they were as useless as the rest of us. The US really can be a corrupting influence, and it protects us. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/17 "2011-09-11T02:31:34Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > According to foiled bomb plots, they’ve been working on it. Just not very well. > [@Belowjob2.0](#): > > Wouldn’t stop anyone with the right skill and organizational ability from loading up half a dozen semi trucks with fuel oil and fertilizer and placing them strategically around the building to blow during rush hour. But how many such people _are_ there? We’ve seen a number of failed bomb fizzles, and I suspect that a number of would-be bombers fail in the other direction and end up as smoking hamburger. Bombs aren’t really all that forgiving of mistakes. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/18 "2011-09-11T02:45:40Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > In the past ten years there has been all kinds of successful terrorism against the US–economic terrorism. And it’s precisely because “Homeland Security” is so “good.” > > Al Queda’s real goal was to get the U.S. to spend so much on trying to prevent terrorism that it would have severe economic repercussions. > > They’ve succeeded. Al Queda caused mortgage lenders/investors to behave like greedy idiots and the housing market bubble to collapse? I never knew. Bastards! \ ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/19 "2011-09-11T02:59:15Z")
This thread reminded me that I hadn’t heard anything about the attempted bombing of the MLK parade last winter. I went and looked it up - turns out they caught the guy, thanks in part to a camera he left in the backpack that still had his photo on it, and he plead guilty last Wednesday to attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and a federal hate crime. He’ll be sentenced in November to between 27-35 years in prison. He’s a white supremacist who says he wanted to bomb the parade for racist reasons. Here’s a CNN article on it - [http://articles.cnn.com/2011-09-07/justice/mlk.parade.bomb.plea\_1\_kevin-william-harpham-parade-in-washington-state-mlk-day-parade?\_s=PM:CRIME](http://articles.cnn.com/2011-09-07/justice/mlk.parade.bomb.plea_1_kevin-william-harpham-parade-in-washington-state-mlk-day-parade?_s=PM:CRIME) One from the Seattle Times - [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016132608\_apusmlkparadeexplosives.html](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016132608_apusmlkparadeexplosives.html) USAToday - > **[Wash. Army vet pleads guilty to planting MLK parade bomb](http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2011/09/wash-man-pleads-guilty-to-planting-mlk-parade-bomb/1)** > > A U.S. Army veteran tied to white supremacists pleaded guilty to planting a bomb along the Martin Luther King Day parade route in Spokane, Wash. AP via Fox - > **[Man Pleads Guilty in MLK Day Parade Bomb Case](https://www.foxnews.com/us/man-pleads-guilty-in-mlk-day-parade-bomb-case)** > > A man with extensive ties to white supremacists pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges he planted a bomb along a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade route in Spokane, Wash., targeting minorities. None of the writers of those articles use the word terrorist or terrorism, although one prosecutor is quoted describing the people pf Spokane as being “terrorized”. All the articles mention Harpham’s connection to a neo-Nazi and/or white supremecist groups but no one in the articles describes these groups as terrorist organizations. No one is ever quoted saying, “Kevin Harpham is a terrorist.” It’s interesting, but not in a good way. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895/20 "2011-09-11T03:12:21Z")
I think a key factor is we don’t have a lot of domestic terrorists. That’s probably a reflection of American society. On the one hand, we’ve got a political system that allows most people in this country to participate in how the country is run - there are no large pools of people that feel like they’re unjustly shut out. On the other hand, America is a society that emphasizes the worth of the individual - it’s probably a lot tougher to convince the average American to sacrifice his life for a cause than it is for people in other cultures. So the main terrorist threat to America is from foreigners who object to our international presence. But they’re thousands of miles away. For them to strike here in America requires some organization and resources - and that creates the kind of trail that intelligence agencies can follow. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-understand-why-there-is-not-more-terrorism-in-america/595895.md?page=2)