America: Calm Down

I think, and I can be as guilty as anyone, that we occasionally, well, okay, quite often, get a mite hysterical. On and on go our politicians and news pundits about the dangers of terrorism. I want you consider a few things.

First, the nature of terrorism. We seem to think that this phenomenon has sprung, fully grown, in the recent years. No, it is old, very old. At the time of the Crusades, there was a group who specialized in terrorist actions and assassinations. It was formed out of one of the many strange offshoots of Islam and was run by Hassan I Sabbah, the Old Man of the Mountain. He, using a slick mind control technique that involved promises of eternal pleasure, mixed with heavy doses of hashish, programmed hit squads which sent terror into the hearts of all who opposed them. They were called Assassins, from the word hashish.

The Vietnamese defeated the Mongols by planting booby traps and picking off soldiers caught in them. Native Americans waged a constant series of harassing attacks against settlers which we, today, world call terrorism. Heck, the war we fought against the British in 1776 was a campaign of terror, beginning with the Boston Tea Party.

Anytime a small force fights a larger and stronger one, they can only do so through acts of terror, quick raids, planted explosives, kidnapping, harassing attacks. This is a simple tactic and, objectively speaking, it's a darn effective one.

However, it only works if the party attacked loses perspective, if they panic. Al Qaida, or whoever, the facts are a bit cloudy, but let's go with the official story for the sake of argument, destroyed the World Trade Center. It was a horrific act. But, then, not much. Yes, here and there, there have been attacks in other countries, and that is a horror that should be stopped, but, here, in the US? Again, not much.

There have been more incidents of domestic terror than those perpetrated by radical Islam. We tend to forget the Oklahoma City bombing, the Atlanta Olympics bombing, the many abortion clinics blown up and the DC Snipers. We forget the Weather Underground bombings of the 60s, which might have been worse had they not blown themselves up.

From Al Qaida, since 9/11? Nothing but talk. Now, we are beset with the threats of ISIL. So far? One attack by two people who sympathized with ISIL and managed to kill 14 and wound 17. I am not in the least making light of that horror but, that's 31 people out of a Nation of 350,000,000. Cause for concern? Yes, of course. But, reason to panic, to run frantically in circles, bemoaning the fate of the Land. No. We will not succumb to such organizations. We may succumb to our own greed, sloth and stupidity, but not to terrorism, unless we turn a blind eye to the most dangerous groups in the Land. I am speaking of the White Supremacist/Christian Identity Groups. They have been fairly quiet but do not, for an instant, think we have heard the last of them.