New York City Terrorism the Old-Fashioned Way: With Bombs

Two synagogues in New York City were not blown up this week: but not for lack of effort.

Four men, American citizens, 'allegedly' thought they were planting real explosives at the Riverdale Jewish Center and another synagogue in New York City. Happily, the devices were duds, given them by an informant.

I have no idea how the trial will go, but it seems clear that these four were determined to launch their own terror attack on New York City. Aside from the two synagogues, they planned to shoot at American military aircraft, using antiaircraft missiles they got from the informant.

Details about the wannabe terrorists are still sketchy, but they said that they were on a jihad.

"...'They stated that they wanted to commit jihad,' he [Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly] said. 'More information about their motives I'm sure will be developed as the case progresses, but right now, they stated they wanted to make jihad. They were disturbed about what was happening in Afghanistan and Pakistan, that Muslims were being killed. They were making statements that Jews were killed in this attack and that would be all right — that sort of thing.'..." (City Room, The New York Times)

Nothing new here.

America: 'What a Country!'

While the four home-grown terrorists were going through preparations, New York City's Muslim and Jewish leaders were very active. Not throwing epithets at each other, or worse. Doing what happens rather often in America: getting together to deal with a common problem.

"...A group of Jewish and Muslim leaders have scheduled a 1 p.m. news conference at the Islamic Cultural Center of New York, one of the city's largest mosques, to condemn violence.

"Imam Muhammad Shamsi Ali, the spiritual leader of the mosque, on East 96th Street near Third Avenue, and Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding and founding rabbi of The New York Synagogue, are to attend. 'We call upon Muslim leaders to stand firm against the forces of evil,' Imam Ali said...."

As Yakov Smirnoff says, "what a country!"

"America Sucks," "Little Eichmanns," and Cherished Beliefs

I think that, when a number of people die from gunshot wounds, whoever was holding the gun is responsible. In this case, I think that the people planting what they though were real bombs are responsible: as well as their lookout.

However, I think it is prudent to look at why people shoot other people, and on occasion try to blow up buildings.

Last month, I wrote: "...I think a step in the right direction would be for institutions of higher education and news media to re-evaluate some of their cultural values. Particularly the cherished belief that there is no problem that cannot be blamed on America and/or American Big [whatever]...." (April 4, 2009)

I'm not making excuses for these four would-be killers. And I do not think that America is perfect.

But, this is a country that people are trying to break into: and I think there are a number of good reasons for that. America is a country where a college professor can write that the people killed in New York City's World Trade Center had it coming because they were "little Eichmanns," and have the country's courts force a university to re-hire him.

Related posts:

• " 'America Sucks' - Binghamton, New York, Bullies, and 'Little Eichmanns' "
  (April 4, 2009)
• "Sounds of Silence: 2009"
  (March 31, 2009)
• "Pro-Life? You May be a Dangerous Domestic Terrorist! MIAC Says So"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (March 23, 2009)
• "Feeling Ungood About Doublethink? Here's Help"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (March 23, 2009)
• "Pakistan; Nawaz Sharif; Multiculturalism; and a Skewed World View"
  (March 15, 2009)
• "Banning Online Terrorist Recruiters? Be Careful About What You Wish For"
  (March 10, 2009)
• "CCSU Students Talk About Guns: Naturally, Their Professor Called the Police"
  (March 4, 2009)
• "Turkey, the Ottoman Empire, Dead Armenians, and Learning from Mistakes
  (February 28, 2009)
• "'Towelhead,' 'Retard,' and Talking Sense in a Global Society"
  (February 24, 2009)
• "Muslim Founder of Islamic Network Beheads Wife: But it's No Big Deal?"
  (February 16, 2009)
• "What is Islam? Even Muslims Don't Seem to Agree"
  (February 6, 2009)
• "Emotions, the Frontal Cortex, The War on Terror, Anarchists, and the Illuminati"
  (December 23, 2008)
• "Monkey Pirates, Jews, and Zionists? Get a Grip!"
  (October 14, 2008)
• "Liberty City Seven / Liberty City 6"
  Multiple posts (starting March 27, 2008)
• "United States of America: 232 Years in the Freedom Business"
  (July 3, 2008)
• "Empire State Building Shines Green for Eid"
  (October 13, 2007)
  • Good news, I think. A comment shows that not everyone agrees.
• Professor Ward Churchill: 9/11 Truthteller, or Nincompoop?"
  (July 25, 2007)
• "Rep. Ellison's Misconstrued Reichstag Remarks"
  (July 17, 2007)

News and views:

• "4 arrested in alleged NYC synagogue bomb plot"
  CNN (May 21, 2009)
• "Suspects in NY jihad plot due in court"
  Reuters (May 21, 2009)
• "New York terror plotters wanted to 'do jihad' "
  The Christian Science Monitor (May 21, 2009)
• "Latest Updates in Terror Plot"
  City Room, The New York Times blog (May 21, 2009)
  • Includes details of the arrest

Waging an Overseas Contingency Operation Against Alternatively-Peaceful Ideologues??

I suppose that "overseas contingency operation" does sound nicer that "war on terror."

The phrase, "war on terror," sounds so, well warlike.

I think I understand why President Obama was so eager to end the war - or at least the word - as quickly and quietly as possible. Code Pink isn't entirely representative of his party's views, but quite a few of his supporters seemed to be peaceniks.

Pleasing Supporters and Staying Alive: No Easy Task

President Obama seems to be in the unenviable position of wanting to demonstrate that he is utterly unlike the 'diabolical' President Bush: while acting to ensure that America is around for his re-election.

So far, he's stepping up his 'unilateral' attack on Afghanistan. (Notice how America isn't acting 'unilaterally' any more?) What he'll do about prisoners at Guantanamo is still up in the air: but at least he didn't immediately released them.

There's a good chance that President Obama will remember that the prisoners at the Guantanamo facility are there because they were (almost certainly) trying to kill Americans and other people who weren't on their imam's 'preferred' list.

Aside from a few unscripted gaffes, like Obama's remarks about the natives of inner Pennsylvania, Barack Obama has struck me as charming, charismatic, and smart. There's no reason to believe that he would intentionally destroy the nation that's given him his current position.

I think that President Obama is aware that leaders of Al Qaeda and the Taliban, the Ayatollahs of Iran, and other people who are responsible for "man-caused disasters," are not nice. I also think he's sharp enough to realize that saying nice things doesn't always make nice things happen.

At least, I hope so.

Related posts:

• "President Obama and State Secrets: It's Different, When You're in Charge"
  (April 13, 2009)
• "Genocide, Schmenocide: Let's All be Friends"
  (April 6, 2009)
• "No More "War on Terror" - Officially?"
  (March 30, 2009)
• "Obama Backs Bush Policy, Guantanamo up to Geneva Convention Standards: It's Different, When You're in Charge"
  (February 21, 2009)
• "Barack Obama: Upstart Young Whippersnapper?"
  (August 26, 2008)
• "Hamas, Iran, and the Natives of Pennsylvania: Two Out of Three Ain't Bad"
  (April 16, 2008)
• "The Effect of Information Technology and Media Preoocupation with Urban Events on the Relative Sophistication of Urban and Rural Populations"
  (April 13, 2008)
• "Watch for Weird Words: Election's Coming Up!"
  (August 9, 2007)
  • Particularly "It's already happened...."

News and views:

• "What's in a Name? Re-Branding Madness Consumes Washington"
  FOXNews (May 18, 2009)
• "Critics Call Obama's Tribunals 'Bush Lite' "
  CBS News (May 16, 2009)
• "Drug Czar Doesn’t Like Phrase 'War On Drugs' "
  CBS News (May 15, 2009)
• "Three coalition soldiers die in Afghanistan"
  CNN (May 15, 2009)
• "Changing course in Afghanistan"
  CNN (May 12, 2009)
• "The End Of The U.S. War On Terror"
  Journal of the Turkish Weekly (May 8, 2009)

---

Background:

Excerpt from "The End of the U.S. War On Terror" (Journal of the Turkish Weekly (May 8, 2009))

"Do you remember where you were the day the 'global war on terror' ended?

"Like most people, you probably didn't even notice that it had. And that may be because the 'war' didn't end the way the man who started it -- former U.S. President George W. Bush -- often predicted it would: with 'complete victory' in the 'great struggle between the forces of freedom and the forces of terror.'

"It ended with an e-mail, sent under a new administration led by President Barack Obama.

"Sometime during the week of March 25, the government agency that reviews the public statements of administration officials before they're disseminated sent an e-mail to employees of the U.S. Defense Department. The e-mail read: 'This administration prefers to avoid using the term "long war" or "global war on terror." Please use "Overseas Contingency Operation." '

"It added, 'Please pass this on to your speechwriters.'

"At first the White House denied that an across-the-board decision had been made to banish the old language and introduce the new phrase, but a few days later Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed to reporters that 'war on terror' is not how anyone who works for President Obama will be describing U.S. policy, either at home or abroad.

"Clinton said, 'The administration has stopped using the phrase and I think that speaks for itself.'

"Obama himself hasn't said anything about the change, but while he was still a candidate for president, he made it clear that in an Obama White House, the language of diplomacy would replace the language of force.

" 'After eight years of the disastrous policies of George Bush, it is time, I believe, to pursue direct diplomacy with friend and foe alike without preconditions,' Obama said in May 2008...."