Terrorist Attacks – Not the New Normal

With terrorist attacks occurring with some frequency, it is easy to slip into a fatalistic mentality which views them as the “new normal”. The excerpt below talks about that frequency:

Yet, the fact remains that there have been at least 60 Islamist-inspired terrorist plots against the homeland since 9/11, illustrating the continued threat of terrorism against the United States. Fifty-three of these plots were thwarted long before the public was ever in danger, due in large part to the concerted efforts of U.S. law enforcement and intelligence.
The Heritage Foundation has tracked the foiled terrorist plots against the United States since 9/11 in an effort to study the evolving nature of the threat and garner lessons learned. The best way to protect the United States from the continued threat of terrorism is to ensure a strong and capable domestic counterterrorism enterprise—and to understand the continuing nature of the terror threat.
The bombings in Boston are not likely to be the last such attempt to attack the U.S. as a whole. Now is not the time for the U.S. to stand still.
60 Terrorist Plots Since 9/11: Continued Lessons in Domestic Counterterrorism
Jessica Zuckerman, Steven P. Bucci, Ph.D. and James Jay Carafano, Ph.D.

We can not accept terrorism as the “new normal.” The United States, Canada, Australia, Russia, Western Europe, and other targeted countries shouldn’t just take defensive actions in the hope of preventing attacks, important as that is. The world needs to be on a war footing and make a concerted effort to eradicate the curse of radical Islamic extremism by such groups as ISIS, Al-Qaeda, Hamas, Boko Haran, and many others which commit acts of terrorism every day. We don’t hear about most them unless the act of terrorism is so horrendous that it gets the attention of the western press, or the act is against a western target (like what happened recently in France).

We should support and encourage our country’s counter-terrorism efforts. Think of all the misery these terrorist groups cause: anguished parents of kidnapped girls in Nigeria, the thousands butchered by ISIS, most of whom are Muslims, the bombings of marketplaces in Iraq, Pakistan, and other countries, just to name a few. This savagery must be dealt with by every civilized country, no matter what the dominant religion. We can’t let these groups continue to terrorize and kill people.