Sharp Decline in Terror Attacks After Bin Laden Death

[onehandle]

Source: ABC

The number of worldwide terror attacks fell to 10,283 last year, down from 11,641 in 2010 and the lowest since 2005, the State Department reported today.

What's made the difference? The State Department cites the May 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden and other top al Qaeda members killed last year including Atiyah Abd al-Rahman and Anwar al-Awlaki, who was the head of Yemen's Al Qaeda affiliate and had ties to the underwear bomber plot in 2010.

"The loss of bin Laden and these other key operatives puts the network on a path of decline that will be difficult to reverse," the report stated.

But Ambassador Dan Benjamin, the State Department's coordinator for counter-terrorism, warned that for all the good news about the core of al Qaeda being weakened, affiliates of the group, particularly in Yemen and in Africa, continue to pose a real risk.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/sharp-decline-terror-attacks-bin-laden-death-213958117--abc-news-politics.html

[SmittynMo]

1. Yet somehow,

Obama will not get credit. You watch and see. Cheney indicated were in worse shape since he took office, regarding terrorism. It's quite sickening to see. And the right seems to think Cheney is correct.

[doohnibor]

2. So what now?

You can only get so far murdering the capi of the various crime syndicates. As long as there are criminals, leaders will emerge among them who will encourage more criminal attacks. To get rid of crime altogether, the motivations for turning to those crimes must be removed: the poverty, the oppression, the religion that assures them that they are acting righteously.

What would weaken al Qaeda the most in Yemen and Africa would be if the local people saw their standard of living improve. If food security and housing and education were better and they could see a brighter future and started skipping Friday prayers.

[thesquanderer]

3. Bush: "I truly am not that concerned about him." (n/t)

[Hubert Flottz]

6. Bush couldn't think of one thing that he'd not done right.

I guess old shifty chinned Dumbya really was on Thorazine.

[BeyondGeography]

4. I guess Obama apologized us into being more secure

[slackmaster]

5. Only 10,283 as compared to 11,641 the previous year

At that rate the world will be completely free of terrorist attacks by the year 2020.

Pardon my

[4th law of robotics]

7. I wonder if it has anything to do with us drawing down in Iraq/Afghanistan

thus providing fewer targets.


Also, what happened in 2005?

[Yavin4]

8. Great. Now, Can We Keep Our Shoes on While Going Through Airport Security? n/t

[samsingh]

9. thank you President Obama

[K8-EEE]

10. 2008 RNC was all about "War On Terror" when was the last time you heard a Republican say that?

So can we assume Obama "won" it or is winning it?