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Health Care - March 2010 Vote

Do you think Congress will pass the current form of the Health Care bill this week?

Yes
No
Not sure

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Senior Intelligence Officials: Attempted Terror Attack "Certain"

The five senior leaders of the U.S. intelligence community told a Senate panel they are "certain" that terrorists will attempt another attack on the United States in the next three to six months.

If true, why do you think the jihadists feel emboldened?

The Obama administration is seen as weak against terrorism.
Its continued backlash against the policies of the former Bush administration.
Not sure.

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October 1, 2008

Terrorism Is an Escalating Process

Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman

Terrorism - intimidating people for political gain - rears its head periodically in history, and we are living in one of those times. Earlier were:

--The Assassins, Shiite Muslims (hash-addicted) who holed up in Persian mountains in the 11th-13th centuries, carrying out acts of assassination throughout the known world.

--The French Revolution, which gave rise to nationalist terror cults that later became international movements. The period following the Revolution was called "the Terror," which was a model of violence subsequently adopted by others throughout the 19th century. The rapidity of change during that period of political disorder, economic change, and intellectual developments threatened the old order of class privilege and traditional religion. Ideological ferment continued into the 20th century, and is still with us in the 21st.

--The Muslim Brotherhood, a movement that began in Egypt in the 1920s, was the father that spawned Islamofascist cults throughout the century, culminating in the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and al Qaeda in the 1990s. The ideas transcended sect - whether the terrorists were Muslim Shiites or Sunnis.

--The use of violent tactics. All of the al Qaeda-based cults, including Hammas and Hezbollah, have upped the ante. Former use of car and truck bombs now includes suicide bombers, increasingly women, who are generally free from search. The technique is to follow an attack as soon as medical help arrives with another bombing. The suicide bombs are filled with bolts, screws, and shrapnel to inflict the most possible damage on bystanders and aide workers. The Muslim world loved this when the targets were Israelis or Americans, but not so much when the targets are themselves.

Two bombs exploded minutes apart in a packed Istanbul square in July, probably the work of Kurdish rebels, making rapprochement between Turks and Kurds very difficult, undoubtedly the intent. A similar attack that killed at least 45 people in western India - targeting a hospital - was preceded by an e-mail: "In the name of Allah the Indian Mujahideen strike again!" This was but one of many attacks in India, fomenting hatred toward Indian Muslims. The rural areas are already steeped in ignorance, misery, and ethnic and religious hostilities. Terrorist acts only make this worse.

--American copycats. Three people (not Muslim) were indicted in the bombings of a FedEx building and a San Diego courthouse. The inspiration for this might have been the truck bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City by Timothy McVey and friends in 1995. But then again, Islamists have provided more recent models.

--The Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front. These ideologically-inspired movements have gone from hippy goofiness to increasingly dangerous violence. The liberation fronts have graduated from monetary terrorism to violence against science professors and their families - a movement that has frightened otherwise sympathizers.

The university town (Santa Cruz) prides itself on "being weird," a disincentive to attracting business and tax money. People sitting in trees on UC campuses oppose the building of a medical research center; they stay there, costing the university money to protect them from harm. One professor was arrested for bringing food to them; but apparently trespass is not enough to bring the full force of law to bring them down.

The Santa Cruz farmers' market is plagued by drunken, pot-head drummers whose presence drives away customers and annoys vendors. The police "asked" them to leave, but a mob of "weird" citizens rushed to protect them. Two policemen were slammed into a wall and a city councilman was intimidated. Weirdness is morphing into violence.

Terrorism is sometimes an escalating process that starts with "demonstrations 101;" then anarchy, trashing property; then violence. We seem to be living in a time that rule of law doesn't apply to professional troublemakers. They are given a pass by very foolish ideologues who may live to regret it. Arrests and jail terms could make these capers less appealing - as would fire hoses to clear the trees. Terrorism will cease to attract only when public support for scofflaws evaporates.

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman is an historian, lecturer, and author who also writes for the Santa Cruz Sentinel. You may contact her at Lfarhat102@aol.com or http://www.globalthink.net/.

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