|OPINION/EDITORIAL: Terrorism, here? Anything’s possible
Originally ran Monday, Dec 11, 2006 in The Beloit Daily News (Wis.)
Vigilance, even in small-town America, is still required of all citizens.
THERE WAS SOMETHING surreal about the news last week that a man had been arrested for plotting to attack Rockford’s CherryVale Mall with grenades to wage “violent jihad.”
In Rockford, IL?
So the FBI says. American-born Muslim convert Derrick Shareef (a.k.a. Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef) could face life in prison after being arrested by the FBI. He is charged with trying to obtain hand grenades and weapons for an attack he planned to carry out on Dec. 22, the Friday before Christmas, when the area’s largest shopping mall would be filled to capacity with shoppers.
WHEN ALL THE FACTS are known, the man may turn out to be just a very disturbed 22-year-old.
Then again, he could be the real deal.
He certainly should serve as an alarm bell.
At first glance it seems odd indeed that terror would be plotted against a target so far from the big cities and big media centers. On Sept. 11, there was symbolic significance in attacking the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. Other plots have been reported against the Sears Tower in Chicago, the New York Stock Exchange, Los Angeles International Airport, among others. There’s a certain perverse logic in selecting targets not only to inflict damage and death, but also to gain maximum worldwide media attention.
But an attack against soft targets in small-town America is not unthinkable.
Outside the major metropolitan areas, away from the obvious targets, Americans feel safe and secure in their routines. Imagine how that would change if terror came to Main Street USA?
THIS IS ANOTHER reminder that we live in a dangerous world. There are people who want to kill Americans, just because they’re Americans. And those would-be killers do not have to come here from Yemen or Iraq or Saudi Arabia. British-born citizens have killed their countrymen in terrorist strikes. Why not American-born radicals?
The lesson in this is obvious. In today’s world, more than ever, the price of freedom is constant vigilance. We are at war, and the “front” in that war can be visited upon any person, any community, at any time. In an instant, any one of us can go from private citizen to front-line soldier.
Fear is the terrorist’s weapon, so Americans cannot give in to worry and insecurity. But Americans can be alert. Always.
| Notes on “Terrorism, here?” CHICAGO, IL: ERRI Senior analyst Chief Clark Staten often covers this possible rural/suburban attack scenario in his “Response to Terrorism” lectures to first responders. Namely, Staten teaches, that an attack could easily take place in a suburb or other area near-by to a big city and receive the same amount of press coverage as if it had happened “downtown.” Terrorists like press attention...it amplifies the fear in the civilian population, who might then believe that their government can NOT protect them. Furthermore, an attack in a suburban or peripheral city also meets another prime criteria of modern terrorists. These smaller cities are very likely a “soft target,” meaning that it is probably under-resourced, understaffed, and logistically unprepared for a major terror event. It is probable that an attack there will make the authorities look inept. And, more significantly, smaller cities near large ones will probably lack the And, Staten often talks about a possible series of attacks in rural/suburban areas (like the sniper shootings in the Washington, DC area) would demonstrate to some “true believers” the “superiority of the ideology” of the attackers. As they would see it, they “must be right” if they are successfully enabled [by God or whomever] to carry out multiple attacks, in multiple locations, in a near simultaneous manner. Such a scenario would also seriously demoralize “middle America”...when they realized that our local emergency service agencies were apparent NOT competent to protect them. Finally, it should be noted that an attack in rural/suburban interface area is NOT likely to be detected or prevented -- largely for the same reasons that the emergency response after the attack may fail -- the first responder systems in these smaller municipalities are already stretched to the limits and simply lack the necessary education, equipment, and resources to successfully mitigate the aftermath of a major terror attack. Before we finish this discourse, it should be pointed out much of the fault for the above mentioned issues is not that of the first responders themselves. They can only use the tools that they are provided, powered by the knowledge that they have been able to acquire, and financed by the public that they faithfully serve. So, don’t be surprised if an attack happens in the near future in Podunk, IL, or elsewhere like it...where they haven’t planned for it. The vulnerability is obvious to those who study such matters, and now we’ve told you all about it... Copyright 2006 by ERRI and EmergencyNet News. May be freely redistributed to military, emergency service, and/or other government agencies. All other rights reserved. |