# The terrorists have really shot themselves in the foot **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 11, 2001, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrorists-have-really-shot-themselves-in-the-foot/80931 "2001-09-11T21:45:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2001, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrorists-have-really-shot-themselves-in-the-foot/80931/1 "2001-09-11T21:45:45Z")
In the past few hours, just about every single country on this planet, including Afghanistan and Palestine, issued outraged statements condemning whoever did this. Cuba - **FIDEL FUCKING CASTRO!** offered to send medical aid! After this, what country is going to harbor these guys? I foresee roving death squads looking for the perpetrators. I’m willing to bet hard cash that if a foreign group is responsible, they will die in or near their homeland at the hands of their countrymen or their neighbors. I bet even Afghanistan would throw their asses out. The Taliban is more into concentration-camp tactics and large-scale repression. Flying planes into buildings doesn’t strike me as their style. ---
**Author:** ![Daowajan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Daowajan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daowajan)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2001, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrorists-have-really-shot-themselves-in-the-foot/80931/2 "2001-09-11T21:50:37Z")
How appropriate my signature looks in this post. ---
**Author:** ![Journeyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/779978/32.png) [@Journeyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Journeyman)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2001, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrorists-have-really-shot-themselves-in-the-foot/80931/3 "2001-09-11T21:57:54Z")
Keep in mind, as sincere as much of that comdemnation surely is, I should think some nations would want to absolve themselves of possibly involvement. Especially since, as you said, almost every nation on earth has publicly condemned the terrorist attack. Many people I interacted with today were calling for war. Admittedly, we were all quite upset, but that’s the atmosphere in my area, Cary, NC. ---
**Author:** ![Sycorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@Sycorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sycorax)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2001, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrorists-have-really-shot-themselves-in-the-foot/80931/4 "2001-09-11T22:03:04Z")
Of course they are “officially” condemning this action – doesn’t mean squat. As I write this, report is coming over my t.v. of something (bombings?) happening in Afganistan. Stand by…you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. ---
**Author:** ![Sycorax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@Sycorax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sycorax)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2001, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrorists-have-really-shot-themselves-in-the-foot/80931/5 "2001-09-11T22:38:19Z")
P.S. - Cuba’s response doesn’t surprise me - rather encouraging actually – Castro’s not going to be in power much longer - no USSR to back them up; Castro wants to normalize relations with us; knows it’s in his best interests to befriend the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![Lodrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@Lodrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lodrain)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2001, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrorists-have-really-shot-themselves-in-the-foot/80931/6 "2001-09-11T23:15:40Z")
I hate to say it, but the terrorists have _not_ shot themselves in the foot. They’ve done what every backyard terrorist and anti-government gun nut wants to do: destroy vital structures, cause chaos, kill thousands. Their attack was brillaint, well-planned, and an utter suprise, no a _shock_ to every decent person in the world. I only hope these terrorists bumble, and their brilliance ends in prison. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2001, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrorists-have-really-shot-themselves-in-the-foot/80931/7 "2001-09-11T23:32:21Z")
In addition to Castro, Libya’s Qadaffi (choose your favorite spelling) condemned the attack. You can draw your own conclusions. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2001, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrorists-have-really-shot-themselves-in-the-foot/80931/8 "2001-09-11T23:41:42Z")
Didn’t a bombing from the US kill Qadaffi’s newborn daughter back in the 80s? Or was that an urban legend/propaganda? ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrorists-have-really-shot-themselves-in-the-foot/80931/9 "2001-09-12T00:05:33Z")
An earlier news article on the BBC’s website (describing British support in earlier US retaliation for terrorist acts) mentioned that the strikes on Libya in 1986 (?) did kill a female relative of Qadaffi. Sorry, no link. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrorists-have-really-shot-themselves-in-the-foot/80931/10 "2001-09-12T06:35:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Redukter \* > \*\*I hate to say it, but the terrorists have _not_ shot themselves in the foot. They’ve done what every backyard terrorist and anti-government gun nut wants to do: destroy vital structures, cause chaos, kill thousands. Their attack was brillaint, well-planned, and an utter suprise, no a _shock_ to every decent person in the world. > > I only hope these terrorists bumble, and their brilliance ends in prison. \*\* Read the OP; your last sentence is saying the same thing, slightly differently. The terrorists **have** bumbled, by alienating so many powerful nations. Their brilliance may indeed end in prison, if **Daowajan** ’s prediction is accurate: no other country will harbor them, and they will find themselves walled in. Hopefully, when they’re run to earth, they will not have the option of suicide. ---
**Author:** ![Sn-man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sn-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sn-man)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2001, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-terrorists-have-really-shot-themselves-in-the-foot/80931/11 "2001-09-12T19:08:43Z")
I hope that the world works together, but… The current sentiment from Afghanistan: “Show us proof" (cite: [cnn.com](http://cnn.com)). I think it will require substantial evidence for a foreign government to hand over someone like Bin Laden. Especially when a terrorist group might retaliate against the government who handed the individual over.