Domestic Terrorism and Fear

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Supposedly everyone in the US and Europe (not sure about Canada) is living in abject fear of domestic terrorism. Whereas I could easily think of 10 things I find more frightening. International terrorism (which is arguably of form of warfare) is a different story, however I actually think the (US) government is doing a decent if not perfect job of protecting us against that.

Going into car is more likely to get you killed then a terrorist attack.

I am more worried about getting shot by a random stray bullet from some of the domestic terrorists - i.e. gang members - that live in my neighborhood than any "terrorists" here in Houston. Sadly, the powers that be have cowed the people into allowing their freedoms to be taken away under the guise of "security", such as the Patriot Act.

Try living in any European country -- "international" terrorism" is taking place in Europe itself. I've lived in both the US and the UK and things feel WAY more immediate when you live in the UK or anywhere else this side of the pond. We've got freaking ISIS sympathizers right here in the UK who slip out specifically to train-up in Syria then COME BACK HERE.

Don't mock people for something that is a real threat. How's your "threat level"? Because where I live it's permanently at "severe". You can't tell me not to give a sh!t about that. We've got people running around with machetes wanting to spill the blood of the infidel. We've had a BEHEADING on a London street. If you don't live in particularly "targetty" city you're fine. But I live in f*****g LONDON. Prime target for all kinds of sh!t. Fck you.

Last edited by BirdInFlight on 07 Dec 2015, 3:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Well I'd be lying if I said I am not at all concerned about domestic terrorism, but what scares me more is the things the government might use it to justify. That and first the far right wing was a joke people like Trump and Carson running for president had to be, but now its just getting scary especially a lot of rhetoric I am hearing from politicians. There is even a representative in my state who basically tried to justify what happened at that planned parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs she's from that No abortion and strong opposition to contraception crowd.

I mean with the Islamic terrorism and recent california incident, I am worried the government and society might try and marginalize Muslim citizens, because of it. I worry there are already people harassing people they think look muslim, and of course media and politicians playing up fear and hate.

But then these right wing conservative christians are starting to freak me out, I guess they always have but its like they're somehow getting more popular...and it really disturbs me that a state representative JoAnn Windholz is her name basically condoned an act of domestic terrorism and blamed it on planned parenthood and essentially justified it. So our government/system or what it is becoming might just be scarier than the thought of having the unfortunate experience of being somewhere when a domestic terrorist tries to attack that particular place.

The U.S government is not even doing a decent job It's mostly because of the U.S the middle east become so destabilized and the area destabilization is growing. And now they think bombing the crap out of Syria is going to put a stop to it? The way I see it the U.S helped create this mess and its hardly putting a stop to it at this point, just dropping bombs hoping to hit important stuff at this point, well a lot of good that will do with a group that already exists/operates world wide.

Don't believe everything you read OP.

I actually think the US government is doing a decent job of protecting the country from international terrorists. 9/11 was the last true international terrorist incident to take place in the US and 14+ years is a long time. By the government I mean the FBI, NSA, and a bunch of agencies we never heard of. These are career intelligence and security people who do their job best when left alone especially by politicians. I agree with you that the US has sucked at foreign policy during the same time period, but I also think that suckiness begins and ends with Bush and Cheney (not necessarily in that order). I don't hold Obama responsible for any of it. He has tried to contain the mess his predecessors created but has gotten no support.

Where most people will disagree with me is regarding surveillance. I think it has helped identify threats early enough to prevent them from harming us. I agree that private citizens' information may have passed through some of these top-secret systems but I have no real reason, aside from simple paranoia, to believe that any private citizen (who does not pose a threat to our security) has been "targeted". I agree that some laws may have been broken in the process, you can argue about that if you wish.

What should I believe and what should I not believe?

To go a bit farther, I will also say that I have no admiration for the actions of Edward Snowden. I won't go so far as to call him a traitor, but what he did is a serious felony and I think he should be brought to justice the same as any other felon (e.g. Jonathan Pollard). I also don't think what he did benefited anyone in the West although he certainly did his Russian benefactors a solid.

Why in the world would 'we' (multinational corporate Persons, members of the military-industrial & their politicians) want to stabilize the Middle East? There's no profit in that...


< / sarcasm >

I agree with what everyone has been saying... the U.S. federal government has been doing a decent job protecting us.... and I worry for the future of Muslims in the US, especially if Trump or Carson wins the election.....And all of this instability in the Middle East is a result of U.S. foreign policy.

The US did play a role. First Bush destabilized Iraq, and then Obama destabilized Syria. And out of that mess we have both the refugee crises, and the rise of ISIS.

But...

Whats wrong with us dropping bombs on ISIS (where they live in Syria)?

What other course of action IS there?

If not THAT then what is it that you would have us do?

Either way some of our foreign policy and political rhetoric doesn't seem to be helping the situation, I mean at this rate the U.S isn't going to keep international terrorism away indefinitely...and I still can't help thinking our major role in destabilizing the region was part of the problem that created the breeding grounds for this ISIS thing, seems even worse than whatever terrorist group it was they were after, after 9-11.

It doesn't seem there are any easy answers I want the constitution and bill of rights upheld, and of course reasonable security but not in such a way it violates that. Marginalizing muslims in general over the terrorist attacks seems a dangerous path.

Are they certain they are actually even dropping bombs on ISIS? With the world blocking refugees I am sure there is plenty civilian cannon fodder. I just think they need to be very strategic with any military action not just blow the crap out of any country that has or might have an ISIS cell which is what I fear the Syria conflict could turn into. I mean is bombing Syria to 'send them terrorists a messege' or is it actual strategic destruction of important ISIS headquarters and resources?

What's wrong with "dropping bombs on ISIS where they live in Syria" is that the bombings have turned out to be somewhat notoriously indiscriminate & based on bad intel. In just the last quarter just under a thousand civilians have been either confirmed or likely killed.
http://airwars.org/civcas-2015/

Also, the airstrikes in Syria have actually screwed up the balance of power in many of the bombed areas and would appear to be working against our goals.