Have the Terrorists Won?

By Todd Strandberg
Rapture Ready

Immediately after 9/11/01, President George W. Bush announced that the terrorist attacks were motivated by hatred of America’s freedom and values.

"They hate our freedoms - our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble" (Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People, September 20, 2001).

Bush may have had a handle on why the terrorists hate us, but his method of defeating them couldn't have been more flawed. In our campaign against Islamic terrorists, soon we began to play fast and loose with the Bill of Rights. We now have government agencies watching over us for our own protection. The KGB and Hitler's SS both had the same benign beginnings.

The point to beating terrorists isn’t about cutting off the head of a multi-headed hydra. It’s not about proving how big, bad, and tough you are. It’s about not letting them change you. It’s about not empowering them by proving that their tools of terror are actually working.

With such limited resources, terrorists can only do so much to us. It's not like they're going to storm our shores in mass numbers, wielding swords and forcing everybody to grow beards or wear burkas. The only way for us to lose the battle is to succumb to a self-inflicted wound.

There are times when I wonder whether the media is working for the terrorists. Whenever Osama bin Laden releases a video or audio message, the press acts like a schoolgirl who has just gotten a love letter. This guy hasn’t said anything important since he went into hiding nearly a decade ago.

The attempted Times Square car bombing shows how we have become our own worst enemy. Judging by the reaction from the media and government, you would think that Faisal Shahzad had gotten his hands on a nuclear weapon. His so-called bomb was nothing more than gasoline, propane, and some common fireworks.

Every would-be terrorist on the planet now knows that for less than a four-thousand-dollar investment, he or she can gain worldwide fame. Even terrorists who fail at their attempts can gain for themselves a measure of immortality. We can thank the shoe bomber Richard Reid for our need to now remove our shoes at the airport and for our inability to carry liquids of more than six ounces in our carry-on luggage.

I was in New York two weeks ago, and was amazed at the level of security in the city. In five days of travel, I passed through seven scanners. Everywhere I went, there were extra police. Grand Central Station had three layers of security: Rent-a-cops, city police, and National Guard units were patrolling the terminal.

I sometime wonder whether the terrorists’ real goal is to financially bleed our nation to death. Up until 2001, our national debt had slowed to a growth rate of 1 percent per year. Once the War on Terror began, the debt tab exploded. We have now spent $ 1.2 trillion on Iraq and Afghanistan.

The whole airline industry has been insolvent since the 9/11 attacks. If it weren't for the taxpayers footing the bill, there is no way the airlines could manage, with a billion dollars of extra costs for security agents.

The terrorists are winning because we refuse to accept that fact that we can't pack the world in bubble wrap. These Islamic extremists have an endless number of places they can attack. It's like trying to ward off ants with a pistol. You might hit a few with your bullets, but there are a thousand to take their place.

I think the protective hand of God is the only reason we have not seen worse types of carnage. Chemical weapons are very easy to put together, and they can poison thousands of people - and yet the terrorists always go with the explosive option.

I am greatly concerned that the day is coming when a terrorist group will carry out a weapon of mass destruction attack. If we are losing ground in the small stuff, the big one would instantly put us into a police-state environment.

Prophecy students have long held the view that the Antichrist would create the totalitarian environment of the last days. Unless the Beast arrives on the scene in short order, there may not be much freedom left for him to conquer.

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