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Originally Posted by GenuineRisk
Actually, we do have an idea. From the link I posted:
"When terrorism cases result in arrests it becomes part of the public record. Therefore, thwarted terrorist attacks that involve arrests cannot legally be kept secret when the activity is in the United States. So we can get a rough picture of what the threat of terrorism in the U.S. looks like by surveying these cases.
Professor John Mueller of Ohio State University has compiled a report that includes all known cases of Islamic extremism10 which have occurred within, or have been targeted against the United States since 9/11. Out of a total of 52 cases:
3 involved situations where no plot had yet been hatched, but authorities worried one might arise.
27 were “essentially created or facilitated in a major way by the authorities.” In other words, a would-be jihadist, often mentally ill, would be provided the coaxing and resources necessary to carry out an attack, and then arrested upon proving that they were willing participants.
There are no known plots disrupted that involved weapons of mass destruction.
All but two cases involved nothing more than a plan to set off conventional explosives.
Of the two cases which included something more dangerous than conventional explosives, one involved a ludicrous scheme to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge with a simple blowtorch, which the plotters abandoned before they were even arrested. The other was a plan by a group of Lebanese men to flood railway tunnels under the Hudson River in which the plotters never acquired bombs, nor did they ever make it to the United States.
Additionally, in the vast majority of cases, terrorists within the United States have proven inept, as written about by Bruce Schneier. In only one of the four cases in which terrorists attempted to set off a bomb since 9/11 did they succeed in even igniting it."
Meanwhile, 45,000 people die in the US every year from lack of adequate health care, and we currently have 60,000 children coming into the United States because the War on Drugs has destroyed Mexico and Central America. And you think terrorism is the bigger threat?
The War on Terror is as big a boondoggle as the War on Drugs.
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I was talking about worldwide terrorism. In a place like England, they have a huge problem with Islamic extremists, yet there aren't that many attacks because the government has an extremely aggressive counter-terrorism task force.
With regard to what is a bigger threat between terrorism vs other problems in our country, I don't think I can answer that one. That would be a little bit too difficult too quantify. I would assume the government could spend our money in a more efficient way than they do but it doesn't seem like either side (republicans or democrats) has a great solution. If they could cut defense spending without risking our safety, that would be a good thing. But I don't if it could be done. I'm sure most of the experts (or so-called experts) at the Pentagon would probably say we can't afford to come back on military spending.
These things are extremely hard to quantify. For example, let's say you have a large house and you spend thousands of dollars on security. You have the best alarm system, a high fence, and a 24 hour guard. You never have any problems. Was all the security a waste of money? I would say probably not. All the security may have been the main reason that you never had any problems.