2010 Essays

Fighting Terrorism and Protecting Our Freedoms in Times Square

Mitchell, Lincoln A.

Much of the coverage of the attempted attack has been framed by a sense of how fortunate we are that this attack was foiled and how our security structures still are not strong enough. While this attempted terrorist attack is a reminder of the reality of the terrorist threat and the need to combat terrorism here in the U.S., it also demonstrates that perhaps we are not so vulnerable as all that. This is not to suggest that the threat is not real, but that we are probably doing something right in the fight against terrorism and that attacking the U.S. may not be as easy as it seems. Since the terrible events of September 11th, we have had foiled several attacks here in the U.S., but have not had any Jihadist attacks on our own soil, other than the Fort Hood shooter.