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Are terrorists stupid?

amdhunter

amdhunter

Lifer
Really. All this TSA nonsense has me wondering.

Are terrorists so dumb, that the best thing they can think of is to hijack a plane?

Whatever happened to a good old suicide bomb in a crowded area in Times Square?

Good old truck full of explosives being driven into the side of the Empire State Building?

Anthrax in the Subway?

Really? Why would terrorists go through with a plan to take down a plane, when it is almost 99.996% sure that they'd get caught with little to no death toll? I am pretty sure any good suicide bomber can get to Times Square unscathed and effectively blow a whole bunch of people up.

I'd bet it would scare the public even more than an airplane going in flames!

Are they really THAT stupid? Are American people SO stupid that they think the terrorists are THAT stupid? Or is it all a scam by the TSA to find something else by searching travelers in the name of "terror?"
 
The object is terror. Knowing that they always target planes makes people fear flying. Everything you said is true, but I doubt it would change people's daily lives - no one is going to avoid crowded places, like malls or Times Square.
 
apac said:
The object is terror. Knowing that they always target planes makes people fear flying.
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If they bombed Times Square or other public areas, they make people fear leaving the house...period.

If they bombed a Subway, people would be scared to go to work.

The flying population is what? 1%. Sure that's a lot of people to scare.

You could scare the shit out of 100% of NYC with a well placed bomb.
 
I was thinking along the same lines as amdhunter. There seems to be a lot of effort and money expended in improving airport security, yet it would raise as much terror if the terrorists targeted a ferry, train, bridge or tunnel (I’m thinking Eurotunnel, as an example) where security is almost non-existent and the risk of getting caught beforehand is minuscule.
 
If their goal was merely to kill people, they would just fly in without any materials, get the materials at their destination, then strap a suicide vest on and walk into a public area. But, they not only want to kill people, they want to cause as much fear and paranoia as possible. A plane is a high profile target, even if the attempt fails utterly, it still becomes major news. Plus, air travel is a major force behind tourism, if people don't fly, it grinds to a halt.
 
DangerAardvark said:
Yeah, they sew a ten dollar bomb into some dude's underpants and we spend billions in response. How silly those terrorists are!
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When you put it that way, yeah, the terrorists are actually kinda smart.

Instead of paying for shit we need like healthcare, we use a tremendous amount of public money to keep a very minuscule chance of a terrorist attack happening on this soil.
 
Phokus said:
When you put it that way, yeah, the terrorists are actually kinda smart.

Instead of paying for shit we need like healthcare, we use a tremendous amount of public money to keep a very minuscule chance of a terrorist attack happening on this soil.
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Yup all Al Qaeda has to do is make a video claiming an attack over the holiday, and everyone goes frantic stepping the security up. All while they sit in their cave watching the news and laughing about how stupid we are.
 
No. They are smart enough to know shooting up schools over here wouldn't go over well and even liberals would call for nukes and internment camps. They do just enough to keep relevant and try and unite Muslim world into fanatics like they are. Keep in mind most Muslims are cool but terrorist goal is to turn them to their side and topple Saudi and other regimes and get their hands on real power.
 
Phokus said:
When you put it that way, yeah, the terrorists are actually kinda smart.

Instead of paying for shit we need like healthcare, we use a tremendous amount of public money to keep a very minuscule chance of a terrorist attack happening on this soil.
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LOL That's not terrorist doing unless you mean robber barron economic terrorism. Playing up fear, perpetual stupidly fought wars, air port scanners are not the work of AQ. They have names like Halibuton, Xe, Ratheon etc.

We could have had AQ in Tora Bora remember? Whole war could have been done as a police/SF down low action generals even said so. Could have killed Osama a bunch of times. etc.
 
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Actually the vast majority are incredibly stupid. An intelligent, non-emotionally disturbed mind simply doesn't end up believing (or at least acting on) the crap they do.

Basically you have a small number of intelligent psychotics (OBL, Mohammed Omar) loosely conducting the actions of a bunch of idiots who decide that the reason their lives suck so badly is not because they're idiots, but because the rest of the world is evil and wicked. Then they take their revenge on the world by strapping on a malfunctioning bomb and spend the rest of their lives in a dark hole of a prison cell.
 
yllus said:
Actually the vast majority are incredibly stupid. An intelligent, non-emotionally disturbed mind simply doesn't end up believing (or at least acting on) the crap they do.

Basically you have a small number of intelligent psychotics (OBL, Mohammed Omar) loosely conducting the actions of a bunch of idiots who decide that the reason their lives suck so badly is not because they're idiots, but because the rest of the world is evil and wicked. Then they take their revenge on the world by strapping on a malfunctioning bomb and spend the rest of their lives in a dark hole of a prison cell.
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I don't think 'small number' is true, just look at how many engineers they recruit or have recruited. Doctors as well. Yes they may be a much smaller number than the main body but they're the types that end up doing the work/infiltration. Eventually, if not already, these lads will start focusing on easier and softer targets, and there really isn't a thing anyone can do to stop them.
 
yllus said:
Actually the vast majority are incredibly stupid. An intelligent, non-emotionally disturbed mind simply doesn't end up believing (or at least acting on) the crap they do.

Basically you have a small number of intelligent psychotics (OBL, Mohammed Omar) loosely conducting the actions of a bunch of idiots who decide that the reason their lives suck so badly is not because they're idiots, but because the rest of the world is evil and wicked. Then they take their revenge on the world by strapping on a malfunctioning bomb and spend the rest of their lives in a dark hole of a prison cell.
Click to expand...

This. Absolutely this.
 
The terrorists are not stupid for targeting air travel. The United States is a vast continent. So much economic activity is dependant on air travel. Far more than the railroads I would argue. Disrupting it, or even just the treat of disrupting it, generates fear. Their goal isn't to kill as many random people as possible. It's to create instability; both economically and politically.

The TSA reaction is the worst possible reaction. It's effectively turned citizens against their government and led many to abandon airlines as a form of travel. The attacks didn't need to be successful to garner a victory through fear, uncertainty, and doubt.

On the subject of security, El Al doesn't require all passengers to be physically patted down or scanned. They consider that inefficient and laughable. Instead, they interview passengers and profile. Methods many here consider racist or "Islamophobic". However, they work. El Al is the safest airline in the world. They also keep undercover armed agents on all their flights. Something the US planned to do but never expanded upon. Cockpits are also sealed off by double doors and passenger compartments are reinforced against explosions.
 
They are demonstrating the hypocrisy of the American government. They sacrifice a few pawns and we compromise our principles. I've been saying for 9 years that soft targets would achieve real terrorism better, but they are more interested in making us look bad than causing terror.
 
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