Taleban threaten America

[DMB]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6011879.ece

Baitullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taleban, threatened yesterday to launch an attack on Washington that would “amaze everyone in the world” as he claimed responsibility for the raid on a police academy in Lahore and boasted of a new regional militant alliance.

Hot air, or can they do anything?

[premjan]

Not that easy to deliver.

[Ray Moscow]

I think 9/11 has taught us that crazy religious people can do a lot of harm.

[premjan]

In Pakistan they will definitely have a go. Are there enough people of an extreme orientation in the US to pull it off - hopefully not.

[Ray Moscow]

In Pakistan they will definitely have a go. Are there enough people of an extreme orientation in the US to pull it off - hopefully not.

20 or so can do a lot of damage. Hell, 4 or 5 did a lot of damage in London -- or 2 in Oklahoma City.

Large numbers aren't necessary if the few are crazy and organised enough.

[sohy]

Who knows at this point? It does seem as if like every time we have a new president, some group of fanatics want to try and test him.

[HinduWoman]

Depends on the scale of the attack.

A handful of Muslims in USA with ordinary guns and home made bombs can do a lot of damage before important places or just shopping malls.

[dancer_rnb]

I think 9/11 has taught us that crazy religious people can do a lot of harm.

Especially when they get very lucky.

[Copernicus]

On my way home from Kansas yesterday, the security alert was raised to "orange". And two agents pulled me out of the boarding line for a "random search". This could have been a reaction to the terrorist threat. Or maybe they were just pulling "random" people out of the line who looked particularly threatening. It's not like they had a random number generator on them or anything. I'm sure that these kinds of tactics are why the terrorists haven't been attacked in full force since 9/11. If they can pull a harmless drudge like me out of the line, what terrorist is safe? On the other hand, I was scowling and mumbling curses under my breath. Must try to control that in the future.

[DMB]

Never mind random. I get searched every single time because my replacement knee joint sets off the alarm.

[premjan]

Bobby Kennedy was killed by a Palestinian.

[tjakey]

We endure terrorist attacks all the time; Nursing Homes - Schools - Community Centers...

According to a story on Yahoo; "A string of attacks in the U.S. in the last month left 44 people dead in all."

Of course it will not be "BIG NEWS" until such an attack is carried out by a lunatic Muslim.

[LukeS]

If they could have, they already would have. AFAIK nothing has changed.
IMO they will aim for the second and third world countries with the less organised and worse funded intel agencies, as shown by more recent attacks.

[tjakey]

Sooner or later someone will succeed with a major attack in the US, maybe some "home grown" lunatic. Oklahoma City was carried out by a right wing nut case who would surely have voted for McCain and would have come (even more) unglued at the thought of Obama. In fact he is exactly the kind of person being stirred up by the likes of Fox News. We live in a violent and basically unhinged world where no one is ever completely safe from the nut cases.

[Mediancat]

In Pakistan they will definitely have a go. Are there enough people of an extreme orientation in the US to pull it off - hopefully not.

20 or so can do a lot of damage. Hell, 4 or 5 did a lot of damage in London -- or 2 in Oklahoma City.

Large numbers aren't necessary if the few are crazy and organised enough.

Random lunatics killed eight people in a North Carolina nursing home, thirteen people in an immigrant center in Binghamton, NY, and three reasonably alert police officers in Pittsburgh.

It is more than possible.

That said, I think this is hot air, because we've been hearing the same kind of crap from the same breed of fanatics for years now. That does not mean I'm overconfident.

Rob