Times Square
New York City
Alan: First, some groundwork...
Terrorism is real.
Terror attacks -- sometimes devastating -- will continue to occur as they have for centuries. (President William McKinley was assassinated by a sworn anarchist. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-miller/mckinley-assassination-terrorism_b_950255.html)
Yes, it is important to remain vigilant.
Yes, efforts should be made to neutralize agents of terror.
However, the United States is super-saturated with soft targets that any reasonably bright middle school "chemist" could "take out."
Consider.
95% of Amtrak stations are un-manned so that anyone obscuring a small bomb under an overcoat can board a train, leave the bomb under a seat, exit at the next station, detonate the device... and quite likely "get away with it."
The same is true for the nation's hospitals where people freely come and go, providing ample opportunity to deposit an explosive device in a planter or locked bathroom stall.
So why no terror attacks last night, despite New Year's fireworks, chaotic crowds and gushers of "Bomb Me!" opportunities?
Either global jihad is much less powerful than we think, or terrorists are totally inept.
I also wonder about the presumed abundance of sympathetic "sleeper cells" (having no formal affiliation with ISIS) that supposedly salivate for prime-time destructive opportunities like New Year's Eve.
Why did none of these paladins put in an appearance?
On the other side of the coin...
We know -- "as plain as potatoes" -- that the threat of mosquito-borne disease, drunken car carnage and gun violence (at least in the United States of Barbaria) dwarf The Terror Threat across the northern latitudes.
"Shark Attacks Rise Worldwide: Risk Assessment and Aquinas' Criteria For Sin"
"Faulty Risk Assessment And The Epidemic Spread Of Self-Terrorization
Jenny McCarthy: Poster Girl For Self-Terrorization
We also know that human beings (in this instance, white human beings) are psychologically stampeded by any malevolent threat planned by dark-skinned people.
Timothy McVeigh? Wade Michael Page? Adam Lanza? Eric Rudolf? James Holmes? Trigger happy American cops?
Never mind.
1 Small Town's Cops Have Killed More People Than Combined Police Of Germany And U.K.
Timothy McVeigh? Wade Michael Page? Adam Lanza? Eric Rudolf? James Holmes? Trigger happy American cops?
Never mind.
Americans Are 9 Times More Likely To Be Killed By A Policeman Than A Terrorist
Americans Are 9 Times More Likely To Be Killed By A Policeman Than A Terrorist
American Cops Fire More Bullets At One NYC Man Than All German Cops Fire In A Year
http://paxonbothhouses.
1 Small Town's Cops Have Killed More People Than Combined Police Of Germany And U.K.
http://paxonbothhouses.
"The Deadly Oppression Of Black People: Best Pax Posts"
Like their "spiritual" forebear Osama bin Laden, ISIS wants the United States lathered out of all proportion to the real threat of terror and drools over the prospect of Uncle Sam getting involved in an all-out ground war, face-to-face firefight being the best way for terrorists to leverage their limited capability, boosting recruitment and sapping American resolve through the interminable slog of unwinnable asymmetric conflict.
"Bush's Toxic Legacy In Iraq"
Asymmetric Warfare And The Unwinnability Of War: "To The Spoils Belongs The Victor"
The United States cannot definitively win on any battlefield where the enemy is comprised of people who live there.
Fortunately for ISIS, the central tenet of America's National Religion is that the application of ever-increasing violence is ALWAYS victorious. (More bombs were dropped on North Vietnam - a country the size of North Dakota - than the total number of bombs dropped on Europe in World War II.)
In light of America's persistent stupidity, "real patriots" are zealous to enlist as terrorist operatives.
Bin Laden's Stated Goal: To Bankrupt The United States
(He knows he cannot take us out. But with Uncle Sam's spendthrift help, he can make us collapse)
http://paxonbothhouses.
http://paxonbothhouses.
Despite ISIS Threats To Kill "Millions Of People,"
New Year's Even Was A "Silent Night"
New Year's Even Was A "Silent Night"
Munich, Germany
Police in Munich evacuated two train stations on Thursday after French intelligence services contacted them with a credible terror threat, Munich police told ABC News.
The threat included a planned suicide bomb attack at two railway stations at midnight by five to seven people belonging to the Islamic State, German officials said.
The two rail stations under threat -- the main Munich train station and the Pasing station -- were evacuated and authorities did not allow any trains to stop there for several hours, a police spokeswoman told ABC News. The stations have since reopened.
Police were performing sweeps of the stations but so far no arrests have been made and nothing suspicious has been found.
***
Rochester, New York (my hometown)
The FBI has arrested a man it says was planning to launch an ISIS-inspired attack on New Year's Eve in upstate New York.
Federal authorities accuse Emanuel Lutchman, 25, of plotting to attack revelers inside a restaurant-bar in Rochester. He has been charged with attempting to provide material support to ISIS.
The fireworks show in the city has been canceled in the wake of the terror plot, but festivities will continue to take place at the convention center, the city said in a tweet.
Additional police officers will be deployed.
According to documents, Lutchman has a criminal history dating back to 2006. He describes himself as a Muslim convert.
Since November, Lutchman was allegedly communicating with three paid FBI informants, detailing what the FBI describes as his "strong support" for ISIS and "his hatred for everything in America."
Over Christmas, he was in contact with someone he described as an ISIS operative in Syria and asked the operative what he should do for ISIS if he can't make it to Syria, according to documents. The operative ultimately suggested Lutchman plan an operation for New Year's and kill "1000000s of coffer" -- referring to non-believers, according to the FBI.On Monday, Lutchman allegedly met with one of the FBI informants and told the informant he was "getting amped up to accept the fact that's what I gotta do."
"We just gotta show our allegiance [to ISIS]. I’m ready to lose my family," he allegedly said. Later in the day, Lutchman and the informant discussed placing a bomb in a club-bar and then drove past one, picking it out as the target, according to the FBI. The two also allegedly discussed a plan to kidnap and then kill victims.
"I will take a life, I don’t have a problem with that," Lutchman said, according to the FBI.
On Tuesday, the pair allegedly went to a Walmart in Rochester to purchase supplies, including ski masks, zip-ties, a machete and duct tape. The next day, Lutchman was arrested -- and the FBI seized a video he made on his cellphone taking responsibility for the attack and pledging his allegiance to ISIS.
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