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| When Will The Next September 11th Occur? | ||||||
| It has been almost three full years since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and not an attack in the United States since. �I don't know about you, but just about every day I think of what happened on that Tuesday morning and remind myself that that is why we are continuing the fight to vanquish terrorism. �Even still, the threat of when the next attack will come to fruition remains in the back of my mind, and while I hope that that day never comes, I know it will, for it is inevitable. | ||||||
| Sunday's Los Angeles Times featured an interesting article detailing why the threat of terrorists setting off a dirty bomb grows larger every day. �According to the article, "Building a dirty bomb is far easier" than building a nuclear one, "and the terrorist network's attempts to do so have been documented through evidence uncovered in Afghanistan and elsewhere." �What's even more disturbing is that Al Qaeda has what the article describes as a "weapons of mass destruction committee," which is comprised of three top terrorists that would carry out the next possible attack on either the United States or its allies. | ||||||
| The leader of the committee, Egyptian chemical engineer Midhat Mursi, is possibly already in custody, but his two cohorts, Assadalah Abdul Rahman (son of the blind cleric responsible for the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center) and Abu Bashir Yemeni remain unaccounted for. �Authorities did, however, raid a house in Kabul, Afghanistan, that was thought to be the committee's headquarters. �According to the article, "Documents describing research into chemical weapons and dirty bombs were discovered in the house by CNN in late 2001. �In caves used by Al Qaeda in Afghanistan, U.S. troops also found detailed instructions on how to manufacture and deploy a dirty bomb." | ||||||
| In case that didn't register, let me break it down for you: people in countries thousands of miles away are devising plans for the deaths of both you and me, and probably plan to do it using dirty bombs, which would kill the most people not by the detonation alone, but by the radioactive fallout. �According to the article, one of the probable chemicals would be that of cesium-137, "a fine, talc-like powder that is easily dispersed and binds to asphalt and concrete." �In June of 2003, the article said, a teacher in Bangkok tried to sell "a small amount of cesium for $240,000," but was caught before the deal could go down. �I don't know about you, but if a schoolteacher can get his hands on a chemical that could possibly be used in a terrorist attack, it doesn't seem like too big of a stretch of the imagination to say that the next attack could happen soon. �Furthermore, I don't want some scumbag terrorist schoolteacher in a foreign country deciding when and who is going to die in my country. | ||||||
| It is precisely because of this that the war on terrorism needs to continue. �From Sept. 11, 2001 to Jan. 2003, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Web site, "The war on terror has led to the capture of more than 3,000 Al-Qa'ida leaders and foot soldiers around the world. �The FBI has worked closely with the Treasury Department and other partners to target 62 organizations and freeze $125 million in assets worldwide used to fund terrorist activities." �Among other successes listed: "In the United States, nearly 200 suspected terrorist associates have been charged with crimes as the result of FBI investigations"; "Through criminal, intelligence, and terrorism prevention efforts, FBI investigations have disrupted alleged terrorist cells in Buffalo, Detroit, and Portland and led to the arrest of 18 suspected terrorists"; and "Working closely with the Department of Immigration and Naturalization Services, the FBI has identified and deported nearly 500 individuals in violation of U.S. law." | ||||||
| As far as I'm concerned, the statistics listed above prove beyond a doubt to me that the war on terrorism has been a success thus far, and that we cannot give up now. �Be that as it may, though, many experts have already begun predicting when the next attack will take place, and the consensus is that it will come sooner than later. �And when it does arrive, remember that the terrorists committing it will not care whether or not you support the war on terrorism, President Bush, or marched at any peace rally. �To a terrorist, the only good American is a dead American. | ||||||
| Copyright Gerry Wachovsky, 2004, and Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. | ||||||
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