Al-Qaida is back in the news again. This time they are talking about causing problems in Germany. I don’t know much about German anti-terror policy so I am keeping my fingers crossed that they have not gone all weak and wobbly like we have here. Time will tell but with the elections coming on next week there is no time for them to change tactics now. They will live or die based on the decisions they have made to this point.
Locally, we are not in much better shape. With the recent arrest of the man in Denver, we are reminded again that Al-Quaida is still out there and wants us dead. They have not been convinced not to kill innocents because we have a new more tolerant President in office. I, for one,do not believe we were not attacked at home for the last eight years by accident. However, the tools and more importantly the mind set that made that happen is being changed and I see us as much less safe. It comes down to mindset of the leadership. Is this a battle (war) or is it about criminal behavior (law enforcement)? This is actually a very important starting point. In a battle, you are trying to destroy the enemy and you will us whatever tactics you can to win while preserving your assets within the “rules” you have accepted. Criminal activity is about punishment of the perpetrator AFTER the fact. Law enforcement cannot do anything until a crime has been committed. Hopefully the punishment is bad enough to discourage the next guy but the fundamental point is that if the goal was to kill/murder innocents in the one scenario you find and kill them first and in the other you lock up the bad guy and console the families who lost loved ones.
Count me in the battle camp.
- FOP Vermillion