THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VI, Issue # 115, June 3, 2004
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
THE ISLAMIST JIHAD AGAINST WESTERN CIVILIZATION:
THE NEXT ISLAMIC TERRORIST ATTACK ON THE U.S.A.
By Alan Caruba
FULL STORY: Headlines tell us of government predictions that al-Qa'ida may intend to
mount an attack on the U.S.A. this Summer. U.S. Soldiers
in Iraq recently found an explosive in Iraq filled with Sarin, a deadly chemical capable of killing many people. The widely expressed
doubt that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction should end.
In a recent Washington Times column, John McCaslin cited a poll by the National Association of Chiefs of Police. The
poll asked participants to indicate whetere they agreed or disagreed with the following statement: “Because of the ‘current
political polarization’ in America today, the United States will suffer another ‘large scale’ terrorist attack within the next year."
McCaslin reported the poll revealed that 95 percent of the nation's police commanders and security directors expect a
"catastrophic" terrorist incident within the continental United States. "If Americans believe we're not being targeted for terror in
the near future, they are fooling themselves," says NACOP Vice President Jim Kouri, who predicts the killers, among other
dastardly missions, "will be attempting to influence this November's presidential election. It worked for them in Spain.”
It is the opinion of many counterterrorism experts that al-Qa'ida will attack America again, and they believe it will come before the
elections in November, 2004. The thinking of the Islamists is that the success they had in Spain can be repeated here in the U.S.A.,
and their aim is to cause the defeat of incumbent President George W. Bush in his bid for reelection and obtain the election of
Senator John F. Kerry to the Office of President. Their overall objective is to demoralize Americans and undermine and destroy
our resolve to defend America and the West against the Islamic Jihadists and continue our support of the U.S. military occupation
of Iraq until the Iraqis can establish, make secure, and effectively operate a constitutional democratic form of government.
It is likely that an attack would be intended to kill thousands, though an attack remains conjecture at this point, based on
intelligence gathered by our intelligence agencies and by those of other nations.
Here are some targets al-Qa'ida might have in mind.
If Al-Qa'ida wants to kill a lot of people in order to ratchet up the level of terror in the U.S.A., New York City remains a prime target,
and. there are recent reports of empty suitcases showing up in its subways and other locations as a possible test run on the
delivery of a WMD.
What other city would be a likely target? One answer is Los Angeles and, in particular, Hollywood. Radical Muslims regard the
films and television shows coming out of Hollywood as a direct attack on their sense of moral superiority. A dirty bomb or bioterror
weapon in Los Angeles would have the desired effect. Remember, too, that a terrorist was caught in the run-up to Y2K when he
crossed the border from Canada with a car full of explosives. His target, we were told, was the Los Angeles Airport.
Recently, Jordanians thwarted a plot to attack the U.S. embassy and other targets there with poison gas. According to estimates,
the casualties would have been as many as 20,000. A similar target in the U.S.A. would reap a similar result. Again, the belief that
Iraq did not have WMDs should be put to rest. The belief that it was not cooperating with al-Qa'ida should have been dispelled by
now. Supporters of the deposed Saddam Hussein are continuing their insurgency against our troops and would surely want to
strike at the American homeland.
If I were Osama bin Laden, a trained engineer, what might be another likely target in America? One answer is oil refineries. There
hasn’t been a new refinery built in the U.S.A. since the 1970s, and the ones we have are strained to capacity. When even one is
closed down for routine maintenance, the price of gas spikes. Imagine if two, maybe three, were destroyed? The highways would
empty out, followed by the office buildings and just about every other enterprise that depends on workers who drive to work. That
includes schools, hospitals; just about everything, everywhere. America would have to declare martial law.
Another likely target would be America's electrical grid, the objective an attack being disruption of this aging electrical grid that
distributes this vital source of energy around the nation. Remember when the grid failed a year or so ago? It shut down the entire
Northeast from Ohio to New York. Destroy key components of the grid, and people will be cooking dinner over an open fire in the
backyard.
The plane that crashed in Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001, had a destination about which we can only speculate. But let’s say
it was Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and a direct hit on the building could take out a very large number of U.S. Senators and
Representatives. The U.S. Constitution does not clearly and unambiguously make provision for the killing of enough members of
Congress to render it unable to function. Congress, however, is debating legislation that would allow for emergency elections in
the event that should occur.
While America remains a target, so do Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Britain and just about every other nation around the world.
We are dealing with people willing to kill anybody for their crazed notion of protecting a failed way of life, a belief that Islam must
dominate the world and be practiced in a fashion which Osama bin Laden dictates.
It should never be forgotten that bin Laden has already issued a fatwa, an Islamic edict, calling for the deaths of all Americans.
And what also should not be forgotten is the Ladenese Epistle -- bin Laden's declaration of war against the U.S.A., the
entire West, and the rest of the non-Muslim world.
As our level of anxiety rises, al-Qa'ida has already achieved one of its objectives.
The question, if an attack occurs, is whether Americans will deepen their resolve to destroy their Islamist enemies or seek to
withdraw from the fight.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Islamism & Jihadism -- The Threat of Radical Islam
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
The Middle East & the Arabs
The Middle East & the Problem of Iraq
The Problem of Rogue States:
Iraq as a Case History
War & Peace in the Real World
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, Communications Director of the American Policy Center,
and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly
column, "Warning Signs," posted on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center
(www.anxietycenter.com). A compilation of his past columns, entitled Warning Signs, is published by Merril Press. In addition
to Warning Signs, Caruba is the author of A Pocket Guide to Militant Islam and The United Nations vs. the United States,
both of which are available from the National Anxiety Center, 9 Brookside Road, Maplewood, New Jersey, 07040.
Copyright 2004 Alan Caruba
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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