Gregory D.

Lee

Read Greg's bio and previous columns here

March 10, 2008

Why the U.S. Has Not Had Another Major Terror Attack

It seems the more time passes since the events of 9/11, the more complacent Americans become, and the more they believe the threat of terrorism really isn’t as bad as they once thought.

What is Al Qaeda waiting for? Have they lost their will, or are the security measures implemented by the Bush Administration succeeded in preventing other attacks? The Democrats would like you to think we are as bad off as before 9/11 because they have absolutely no record of achievement in this arena. So how do you measure success against an enemy that does not wear a uniform or engage you on the battlefield?

Bush haters will never give the president credit for preventing additional attacks on the homeland. Democrats continue their attempt to score political points with their liberal base by obstructing him over security enhancements at every opportunity. Since 9/11, congressional Democrats have attempted to derail the logical steps he has taken to prevent future attacks. Those steps include increasing communication intercept capabilities and tearing down the barriers between the intelligence and law enforcement communities so they may exchange terrorism information, as provided for in the Protect America and Patriot Acts.  

These two measures have been extremely effective, but they are only part of the reason the homeland has remained safe from another spectacular attack. I submit that no single government action has done the job, but rather that it has been a combination of factors.

In 2000, the Metropolitan Police in Manchester, England seized a computer of an Al Qaeda associate that contained a file titled “the military series.” That and other related files collectively contained what is now commonly referred to as The Al Qaeda Training Manual. Handwritten copies of this same material have been discovered elsewhere.

The manual covers topics such as how to conduct assassinations, bombings, create forged documents, conduct surveillance, gather intelligence and avoid detection. The doctrine throughout the manual is that time is on their side, and operations will not take place unless there is virtual certainty that the attack will be successful. This extremely conservative approach has worked in the favor of law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and has given them an opportunity to retool their efforts against Al Qaeda.

When the FBI, ICE, other federal agencies and state and local law enforcement shifted their priorities from crime fighting to terrorism prevention and investigation, there was a positive impact on homeland security that cannot be fully measured. That’s one of the frustrations of the job. You cannot say with certainty what security measures prevent attacks. When an Air Force pilot drops a 2,000-pound bomb on an Al Qaeda target, there is instant feedback. Not so in terrorism investigations.

Every time a uniformed police officer unknowingly writes an Al Qaeda cell member a traffic ticket, another terrorist event may have been disrupted. Paranoid jihadists, who erroneously perceive they are being followed by FBI surveillance agents, will postpone the operation for fear of being detected. When immigration agents visit the homes of Muslims who have overstayed their visas, their mere presence impacts terrorist operations that are either in the planning stages or about to occur.

When an alert customs inspector searched the car of a Muslim man at the Canadian border and found explosives that were to be used to blow up Los Angeles International Airport, other untold coordinated terrorist acts were prevented. The terrorists cannot assume the customs inspector had a lucky hit. They have to believe that someone is providing information to the FBI or CIA.

Also, the Al Qaeda human resource department has a limited pool of potential jihad warriors to recruit from. Very few Muslims are fanatics, and of those who are, brain power is not their strong suit. So fortunately, Al Qaeda is forced to work with the lower tier of the gene pool. They are not the best educated, most sophisticated, reliable and trustworthy people available to conduct complex international operations.

Whatever President Bush is doing, it’s obviously working, much to the chagrin of the Democrats. It’s imperative we keep up the offensive and not be lulled into complacency by liberals who would like to set the security clock back to the days of the Clinton Administration.

Gregory D. Lee is a retired DEA Supervisory Special Agent who has been involved in several notable terrorism investigations when he was assigned to Pakistan in the mid-1990s. He can be reached through his website: www.gregorydlee.com.   

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