What About al Qaeda?

By: Michael M. Shapiro

As we approach another Presidential election, the terrorist menace facing our nation and the world has fallen in prominence in polls and in the news.  Meanwhile, its network, which was in place on 9/11, has grown considerably in the past seven years and, thanks to the misguided and badly bungled war in Iraq, has many new recruits.  With our economy teetering on the brink of recession, the war in Iraq devolving into a debate about the surge, and a Presidential election taking all of the oxygen out of the public debate, it is understandable that terrorism has faded from the nation's consciousness.  This, however, is a very dangerous trend that must be reversed by our elected leaders on both sides of the aisle.  The terrorist threat is real, not imagined, and should be fought with vigilance.

Anyone who thinks this menace is passé need only look at last week's bombing in a Baghdad market that killed at least 99 people and wounded over 200.  Two mentally retarded women had explosives strapped to them, which were detonated remotely by al Qaeda.  The women likely had no idea what they were doing and that they were about to be sent to their deaths.  The sheer depravity of this act is shocking.

But then again nothing should surprise us about al Qaeda:  They had flown jets carrying innocent people into the Twin Towers, beheaded countless people and videotaped these beheadings for television, and killed scores of innocent civilians and troops in Iraq using diabolical tactics.

Because of our President's rush to war with Iraq, we have taken our eyes off the terrorists.  As a result, al Qaeda's ally in Afghanistan, the deposed Taliban, is experiencing a resurgence and now controls a large swath of the country, already wreaking havoc on innocent civilians and allied troops.  Al Qaeda sleeper cells have formed throughout our country and the world, biding their time and probably plotting for another attack. Our next President needs to focus our nation, our military and our intelligence on routing out the terrorists and, at the same time, withdraw our troops from Iraq with honor and dignity as quickly as possible.  In addition, he/she has to commit our country to become independent of Mideast oil within the next ten years.  The longer we continue to fund the terrorists at the gas pump, the greater their threat becomes.

Should we fail to take the terrorist threat seriously, we do so at our peril.  The Baghdad market bombing is a chilling reminder of what could be in store for us here at home if we do not forcefully address the threat of terrorism.

Michael M. Shapiro, founder of ShapTalk.com, is an attorney who resides in New Providence, New Jersey. He currently serves as the Editor of The Alternative Press, www.thealternativepress.com Contact Mike at mike@shaptalk.com