By Eugene Robinson
I should knock wood before writing this, but why is it that the
United States hasn't seen attempted terrorist bombings such as the
ones that fizzled last Friday and Saturday in Britain?
The investigation of the botched attacks in London and Glasgow
is far from complete, and authorities can't even be certain that
this spasm of intended mayhem has ended. With suspects still being
rounded up, it's hard to tell where these plotters fit on the scale
that runs from "trained Al-Qaeda operative" all the way down to
"deluded, suicidal wannabe".
From what we know so far, however, it doesn't seem that there
was anything exotic, or even particularly sophisticated, about the
materials used in the two car bombs that failed to explode near
Piccadilly Circus. Unless British authorities are holding
information back, the not-ready-for-prime-time terrorists packed
the cars with propane canisters, gasoline-filled containers and
lots of nails to act as shrapnel. Cell phones were supposed to
trigger the detonations. We're not talking plastic explosives or
anything like that.
All that stuff could be amassed over a couple of weeks, without
drawing suspicion, with a few trips to Home Depot or Lowe's, any
gas station and a store that sells throwaway cell phones - in other
words, several visits to your average suburban strip mall.
When you also consider the obvious incompetence of the
terrorists - they couldn't make either of the London bombs go off,
and the two men who drove a car into the Glasgow airport didn't
even succeed in killing themselves, much less anyone else - it
begins to appear that these guys were pretty far down near the
"wannabe" end of the spectrum.
Even if the plotters turn out to have had links to Al-Qaeda, the
plot itself has a distinctly homemade feel. Why, then, is Britain
under siege - and the rest of Europe threatened - while the United
States, aka the Great Satan, hasn't been attacked since September
11, 2001?
It could be that we've just been lucky. (Knock wood again.) It's
certainly true that police agencies here have been much more
vigilant than before, but that's the case in Britain as well. It's
also true that US authorities have broken up several terrorist
conspiracies, but those plots - such as the plan to ignite a fuel
pipeline and blow up John F. Kennedy Airport in New York - have
been amateurish, technically unsound and thoroughly penetrated by
law enforcement before getting anywhere near the operational
stage.
I think there are two possible reasons for this long respite
from terrorist attacks that the United States has enjoyed.
The first is scary: It's quite possible that Al-Qaeda has
decided not to waste time and assets on small-scale actions in the
US and instead is determined to make its next assault on the United
States even bigger and deadlier than the attacks on the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon.
ABCNews.com, quoting an unidentified source, reported Sunday
that US officials fear a "spectacular" Al-Qaeda attack here this
summer, but Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff denied
that there is any "specific, credible evidence" of any planned
attack, spectacular or otherwise.
Chertoff has said in the past that preventing another
large-scale attack with thousands of casualties is, necessarily,
his agency's primary focus. But there's really no way to prevent a
bunch of wannabes from shopping at Home Depot, and that brings me
to my second possible reason why the United States isn't being hit
the way Britain is.
I think we have far fewer wannabes. The radical, anti-Western,
jihadist ideas that inspire would-be suicide bombers in Britain and
elsewhere in Europe have a much harder time finding receptive ears
here - even though it's the United States that many Muslims around
the world believe is leading a modern-day crusade against
Islam.
I know there are Muslims here who are bitterly angry about US
foreign policy under George W. Bush but who do not respond by
killing themselves and others.
I think that's because the United States, for all its faults, is
still the most inclusive society on earth. Our nation has a way of
making outsiders into participants, a way of convincing people that
they are protagonists, not just pawns.
The United States can fall short of its promises, but it has a
genius for manufacturing possibility. If people have even a glimpse
of a better tomorrow, no matter how unbearable today might be, they
are less likely to pack a car with explosives and crash into an
airport. There's hope for us yet.
Washington Post Writers Group
(China Daily via agencies July 5, 2007)
