Six Years After 9/11: Are We Safe Yet?
"America is better prepared to deal with the threat of transnational terrorism than it was before 9/11. The government has uncovered and thwarted at least 16 terrorist conspiracies in the United States and helped disrupt major plots aimed at America or U.S. persons in Canada, Britain, and, most recently, Germany.
Many of the most important tools for protecting homeland security were in place before 9/11: intelligence activities, information-sharing, counterterrorism, and law enforcement investigations and cooperation. However, the United States and its friends and allies now take these tasks much more seriously than they did before 9/11. Terrorists may be taking the offensive in other parts of the world—but there is no question that they find America and its allies are "harder" targets than they were in 2001."
The standard argument is the terrorist links between Afghanistan and Iraq, usually in reference to Al Qeada. Again my lack of support with Dubya on Iraq is how he went about the war. Much of the public doesn't understand that Al Qaeda alone has set up shops in at least five countries, not to mention numerous other terrorist organizations scattered throughout the world in other countries. We could be deploying troops for the next hundred years and never stay in our on backyard. If we follow that path of continued links then we might as well start up a mandatory draft and prepare to kiss generations of our American children good-bye.
Groups currently designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations
Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) (International, Palestinian)
Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) (Philippines)
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade (Palestinian)
Al-Shabaab (Somalia)
Ansar al-Islam (Iraqi Kurdistan)
Armed Islamic Group (GIA) (Algeria)
Asbat an-Ansar (Lebanon)
Aum Shinrikyo (Japan)
Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) (Spain, France)
Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army (CPP/NPA) (Philippines)
Continuity Irish Republican Army (Northern Ireland)
Gama'a al-Islamiyya (Egypt)
HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement) (Palestinian)
Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami/Bangladesh (HUJI-B) (Bangladesh)
Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM) (Kashmir, India)
Hizballah (Party of God) (Lebanon)
Islamic Jihad Group (Syria)
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) (Uzbekistan)
Jaish-e-Mohammed (Army of Mohammed) (JEM) (Kashmir, India)
Jemaah Islamiya organization (JI) (South East Asia)
Al-Jihad (Egyptian Islamic Jihad) (Egyptian Islamic Jihad) (Egypt)
Kahane Chai (Kach) (Israel)
Kongra-Gel (formerly Kurdistan Workers' Party) (KGK, formerly PKK, KADEK, Kongra-Gel) (Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria)
Lashkar-e Tayyiba (Army of the Righteous) (LT) (Kashmir)
Lashkar I Jhangvi (Pakistan)
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) (Sri Lanka)
Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) (Libya)
Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM) (Morocco)
Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MEK) (Iran)
National Liberation Army (ELN) (Colombia)
Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) (Palestinian)
Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) (Palestinian)
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) (Palestinian)
PFLP-General Command (PFLP-GC) (Palestinian)
Tanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn (QJBR) (al-Qaida in Iraq) (formerly Jama'at al-Tawhid wa'al-Jihad, JTJ, al-Zarqawi Network) (Iraq)
Al-Qa'ida (Global)
Al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (formerly GSPC) (The Maghreb)
Real IRA (Northern Ireland)
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) (Colombia)
Revolutionary Nuclei (formerly ELA) (Greece)
Revolutionary Organization 17 November (Greece)
Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) (Turkey)
Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso, SL) (Peru)
United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) (Colombia)