Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistan-born U.S. citizen has been arrested for parking the bomb-laden SUV in Times Square, which could have killed hundreds if not thousands of people. Kudos to the members of the NYPD and Joint Terrorist Task Force.
Luckily for us, his concoction of explosives failed to detonate and a local street vendor notified a mounted police officer that initiated what appears to be by all accounts a textbook response.
Today, there are more than 100 definitions of terrorism, and they differ even within the United States government. However, at a bare minimum and according to the FBI, terrorism is the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a Government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.
From the outset of this event, there were still members of our government at various levels debating or showing reluctance to classify this as a terrorist act, and based on the contents of the vehicle, where it was placed and the damage that could have been done, I find that hard to believe.
After the arrest of Najibullah Zazi last year, the man who planned the attack of the New York City subway system, I wrote a column outlining just some of the loopholes in our immigration laws that could allow our enemies to infiltrate our borders legally. http://thepillarofstrength.com/?p=236. Given that Shahzad was naturalized just last year, and that his wife is living in Pakistan, it is evidently clear that the system is flawed and needs repaired.
Vigilance and intelligence is a must if we are going to be victorious over this enemy, but we need to address the immigration loopholes that presently exist.
The investigative abilities of the United States government at the local, state and federal levels are the best in the world, and our response protocols are getting better everyday as well. It is the leadership and our legislators that must catch up.
We still have leaders that are in denial or attempting to be politically correct when responding to events like this, and there are very few legislators, that truly understand the threats we face and are full steam ahead in creating new laws or amending old ones to keep us safe.
The frequency of the attacks against us are increasing and it is only a matter of time before a good Samaritan, like the Manhattan vendor is no where to be found.
We really really need to wake up.
Bernie,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your position. I'm not sure what it will take to convince some legislators to get real. The lightning-paced tracing of Shahzad brought my thoughts right back to the Patriot Act. Anyone with objections to this Policy really need to examine their minds !
Noone knows and agrees more with your findings than the majority of the Legal, tax paying, working citizens of Arizona. We have repeatedly asked the US Govt. for HELP in securing our borders. Our Previous Governor did Nothing for this state but further bring it to it's knee's and carried that same indifference to Washington. The number of undocumented, illegal immigrants in Arizona is mind boggling! They do Not contribute significantly enough to Arizona's economy to even begin to offset the cost to AZ tax payers to pay for them to have babies in our Hospitals, receive the Best of Healthcare for FREE, feed their children through school programs, and develop special classes in their native languages, rather than learn the language of this county...English. Suffice it to say, our enemies, those that wish to destroy this country, which by the way is not just a "nation of citizens", but the United States of America, are not Stupid. They have learned our weak spots and use them everyday to further their causes, while our law makers continue to make their focus on useless issues that only serve to undermine this county from within. The Government and it's liberal judicial system, throw smokescreens into the media daily. Your case is a perfect example of the Out of Proportion tactics used by liberal decision makers... abusing their power, in the name of Fairness and Justice! It is written in the Bible that in the End Times, the Good will become Bad and the Bad will become Good. I pray for you and your family.
ReplyDeleteI pray that We, the People of the United States, will wise up.....and use the Power of our voting privilege and rid ourselves of those that threaten our Democracy and threaten to sell out this Great county! God Bless You and God Bless America!