More
terrorism in U.S. inevitable
Gerry
Wachovsky
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 it
is why we are continuing the fight to vanquish
terrorism. Even still, the threat of when
the next attack will occur 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 Qaida 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
Qaida 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
FBI’s Web site, “The war on
terror has led to the capture of more than
3,000 Al-Qaida 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. Working closely with the Department
of Immigration and Naturalization Services,
the FBI has identified and deported nearly
500 individuals [living here] 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.
Gerry
Wachovsky is a journalism major at Cal State
Long Beach.
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