Tuesday, January 27, 2015

The importance of safe havens

We've based a lot of our assumptions about terrorism on the assertion that terrorists need safe havens to plan international terrorist attacks. We have gone to war or released drones on this assumption. How good is this assumption?

Well, for one thing,we forget that the 9/11 hijackers passed undetected through border security 68 times and operated freely in nine states. For another, our fellow Americans have been responsible for half of the plots and attacks against the United States since 9/11 percent. Are we a safe haven that should be attacked? There have been 63 jihadi terrorist plots or attacks against the U.S. homeland between 9/11 and 2012. Yet, perpetrators of just eight of them traveled abroad to safe havens; the other two who went abroad traveled to Saudi Arabia and Canada.

Then, there is the question of what is a terrorist attack. Or, maybe I should ask what is the definition of a terrorist attack. Beheadings here have not been considered terrorist attacks, but they were when our reporters met that fate overseas.

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