America We Have a Problem 
By Robert Maynard

As we look back on 2009 it is not surprising that we ended the year contemplating a failed terrorist attempt. I am, of course, referring to the attempted Christmas Day Flight 253 bombing. It comes as no surprise that we should close out the year 2009 thinking about an attempted terrorist attack because the year has seen a sharp increase in such attacks. That is the conclusion reached in a December 23rd 2009 Time Magazine article by Bobby Ghosh entitled: "Domestic-Terrorism Incidents Hit a Peak in 2009". Mr. Gosh notes that: 

"...by the calculations of Rand Corp. expert Brian Jenkins, more terrorist threats were uncovered in the U.S. in 2009 than in any year since 2001.

"'There appears to be an increase in [terrorist] activity in the U.S.,' warns Jenkins, who calculates that there have been 32 terrorism-related events on these shores since 9/11 and that 12 of them occurred in 2009."

In short, almost 38% of the terrorist attacks that have occurred on our shores since 9/11 took place in 2009. To paraphrase our former astronauts: "America We Have a Problem". Instead of facing the problem, some in Congress are desperately trying to defect attention away from Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano’s "the system worked" comments" by arguing that the problem is that we are not spending enough money.

In an article entitled "Morning Bell: Terrorism Threat Demands Smarter Security, Not More Money", The Heritage Foundation’s Conn Carroll argues that the system has failed and a smarter security system, not more money is the answer. The key is to disrupt terrorist attacks as early as possible. Among the lessons that we need to learn in order to have a smarter system are:

#1: U.S. Security needs to master stopping the threat of individuals carrying bombs on their persons.

#2: Get smarter about stopping "the people carrying bomb" threat. (In other words, focus on the potential terrorist rather than the bomb. Needless to say that the ability to profile suspicious types would go a long way)

#3: Dots were not connected. (Our inability to connect the dots stems from our unwillingness to accept the fact that there is a global Jihadi network behind most terrorist attacks. In a Family Security Matters article entitled "Rash of 2009 Homegrown Terror Plots Ends ‘Denial’", Steve Emerson of the Investigative Project on Terrorism interviewed terrorist expert Dr. Walid Pahares about the role of "political correctness" in preventing a vigorous investigation of Hasan prior to the Fort Hood massacre. According to Dr. Phares ‘The federal bureaucracy contains a "body of expertise" that advises the government not to identify and counter radical Islamism when it finds it.’)

# 4: The System Failed. Abdulmutallab did not dream up his attack on his own. (According to an ABC December 28 article entitled "Al Qaeda Leader Behind Northwest Flight 253 Terror Plot Was Released by U.S.", at least two of the plotters were released by the U.S. from "GITMO". It just might be a good idea not to keep releasing terrorists into a revolving door where they come back to try their luck again.)

Robert Maynard is the Editor of the True North website