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#1 |
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Banned
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Queens
Posts: 34,947
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100% Proof Islamic Threat is Overblown
There are millions of Muslems in the USA. Nothing has blown up since 2001. If they really wanted to, and if there were a sizeable number of extremists, something would have blown up by now.
There are millions of Muslems in Great Britain. Last week some fools tried to blow up 3 cars filled with camping gas canisters and gasoline. 4 Muslems blew up trains and a bus in 2005. There are hundreds of thousands of Muslems in Spain. 4 trains blew up. Nothing blew up since then. If there are soooo many Muslem extremists...and soo many Muslems who want to blow themselves up..where the hell are all the explosions? I guess one could argue they are all going to Iraq and Afghanistan..or they are all secretly in hiding, waiting for the moment to strike with thousands of bombs all at the same time. It just doesnt add up. If Islamic extremism was so widespread, there are more then enough Muslems in the West to make things blow up left and right. But it just hasn't happening. This is the best evidence that I can see, that the Islamic militant threat is total hype and no substance. Even 9-11, only involved maybe 25 Muslems. 25 Muslems out of 1.4 billion. If anything, if you look at the number of Muslem terrorist attacks in comparison to the number of Muslems worldwide, they seem to be a pretty peaceful people. |
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#3 |
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Salted Sith Cynic
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Rat cheer
Posts: 34,279
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Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols were two guys out of a population of 250 million Americans. They conspired to blow up the Murrah Building, and they succeeded.
I am trying to understand what point you are trying to make. Technology as it stands now, and knowledge, provides kinetic means out of proportion to numbers. It isn't the peaceful sheep that anyone needs worry about, it's the wolves in sheeps' clothing. DR |
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Helicopters don't so much fly as beat the air into submission. "Jesus wept, but did He laugh?"--F.H. Buckley____"There is one thing that was too great for God to show us when He walked upon our earth ... His mirth." --Chesterton__"If the barbarian in us is excised, so is our humanity."--D'rok__ "I only use my gun whenever kindness fails."-- Robert Earl Keen__"Sturgeon spares none.". -- The Marquis |
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#4 |
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Muse
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 835
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You make compelling points, but overblown does not equate to non-existent, and vigilance is still needed, IMO.
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Re-education Camp Director: What's better than a big juicy steak? Camp Detainees: Nothing is better than a big juicy steak! Re-education Camp Director: And what's better than nothing? Camp Detainees: A stale piece of bread is better than nothing! Re-education Camp Director: Therefore a stale piece of bread is better than a big juicy steak. |
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#5 |
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Banned
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Montréal
Posts: 25,831
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#6 |
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AKA TEEK
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Up Myself
Posts: 12,471
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I wouldn't mind without the nuke threat.
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#7 |
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~The Rascal~
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Cologne
Posts: 17,369
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#8 |
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Banned
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Montréal
Posts: 25,831
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#9 |
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Muse
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 835
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Re-education Camp Director: What's better than a big juicy steak? Camp Detainees: Nothing is better than a big juicy steak! Re-education Camp Director: And what's better than nothing? Camp Detainees: A stale piece of bread is better than nothing! Re-education Camp Director: Therefore a stale piece of bread is better than a big juicy steak. |
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#10 |
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Salted Sith Cynic
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Rat cheer
Posts: 34,279
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Helicopters don't so much fly as beat the air into submission. "Jesus wept, but did He laugh?"--F.H. Buckley____"There is one thing that was too great for God to show us when He walked upon our earth ... His mirth." --Chesterton__"If the barbarian in us is excised, so is our humanity."--D'rok__ "I only use my gun whenever kindness fails."-- Robert Earl Keen__"Sturgeon spares none.". -- The Marquis |
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#11 |
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Lackey
Administrator / JREF Forum Liaison
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: South East, UK
Posts: 64,804
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I heard a good discussion today on the radio and it was an academic who was an expert in some security guff making the point that yes it is of course only a very tiny minority that will ever take terrible action but as he summed it up (a slight paraphrase but the key words were his)
"These days it only takes one lone nutter to create a terrible attack but thankfully most nutters can't tie their shoelaces together even with instructions from the internet". |
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If it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart? - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 1918-2008
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#12 |
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~The Rascal~
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Cologne
Posts: 17,369
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#14 |
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~The Rascal~
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Cologne
Posts: 17,369
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#15 |
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Banned
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Montréal
Posts: 25,831
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And round and round we go.
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#16 |
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Illuminator
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 3,873
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I cannot for the life of me understand (other than in the context of useful idiocy) why certain people cannot distinguish between fear and resolve. I know a wide spectrum of people - literally hundreds that I've discussed Islamist terrorism and its threat to the US. I've only met one person who manifests fear and that person has fear issues to begin with. If people were really afraid of terrorism en masse it would be easy to point to - declining mega-mall sales, plummeting real-estate values in high-profile office buildings, Super Bowl ticket sales, etc...
It just ain't happening. |
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If you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed ; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than live as slaves. - Winston Churchill, The Gathering Storm |
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#17 |
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~The Rascal~
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Cologne
Posts: 17,369
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#18 |
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Banned
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Montréal
Posts: 25,831
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#19 |
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~The Rascal~
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Cologne
Posts: 17,369
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Why do you sound scared or at least worried if you aren't? ![]() Anyway: Here's the report of the National Jesus, you must be glad to live on the North-American Continent, REALLY! http://wits.nctc.gov/reports/crot2006nctcannexfinal.pdf |
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#20 |
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Banned
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Montréal
Posts: 25,831
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#21 |
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~The Rascal~
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Cologne
Posts: 17,369
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Source: http://wits.nctc.gov/reports/crot2006nctcannexfinal.pdf
Lethality - Comparison of Fatalities and Incidents by Regions: Dead - 20,573 Number of attacks - 14,352 ! Fatalities in the Western Hemisphere: 556 Fatalities in the rest of the World: 20,017 Stunning, isn't it? Oh, and look on page 20-21: 2005: Terror attacks by Islamic Extremist (Sunni) - 23% 2006: Terror attacks by Islamic Extremist (Sunni) - 19% (Well, that decrease would make a good Propaganda Piece for the "War on Terror", wouldn't it?). |
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#22 |
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~The Rascal~
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Cologne
Posts: 17,369
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This is also very interesting:
Terror-Casualties in Iraq 2002: - Terror-C's in the Middle East 2004: 725 Terror-Casualties in Iraq 2005: 8,262 Terror-Casualties in Iraq 2006: 13,340 Wohooo, we're getting at something with the War on Terror ... let's roll, Baby! /cynicism ![]() Source: http://wits.nctc.gov/ |
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#23 |
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Humanistic Cyborg
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Posts: 10,380
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I agree with the OP, and if you read certain poster's posts (BPSCG, or whatever his initials are, comes to mind), there is this perception that Muslims and Arabs in general (especially combined) are a threat -- enough of a threat to be targeted in airports (though that's more based on statistics...). BPSCG made a point earlier that every single Muslim there is enabled or allowed Islamic extremists to do whatever, or somesuch, and because they weren't outspoken or somesuch, they must've wanted it or something. I forget what it was, I just found it trite and boring. Was a while back, I think, too.
Meh, anyways, he'll probably give an explanation of his viewpoint in this thread later on, I'm not fretting about that. Regardless, .1% of a million people are 1,000 people. If .1% of one million people decided to kill you, and had resources and the ability of anonymity, you'd better be careful... |
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Writing.com Account |
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#24 |
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Banned
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Montréal
Posts: 25,831
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From the same source:
Quote:
Quote:
from the same source:
Quote:
Quote:
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#25 |
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Muse
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 834
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Except that the 1000 people are not trying to kill me, they are trying to kill 300,000,000 of us. That makes me a little less scared.
How many people were trying to kill is in WWII? What kind of weapons did they have (clue, the best in the world, until we came up with the nuke). I really don't care if the Muslim population of the world is set on world domination. Really. They so far behind in armaments etc. that there is no chance of this happening, and their sole source of funding has peaked and is now running down. I still fear being attacked by a crazed drug addict when I am downtown more than I fear being a victim of a terrorist attack. IXP |
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"When reason sleeps, monsters are produced" -- Goya, title of etching that is my avatar |
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#26 |
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Tinkering with my brain
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: L.A. area
Posts: 1,723
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#27 |
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Muse
Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 834
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"When reason sleeps, monsters are produced" -- Goya, title of etching that is my avatar |
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#28 |
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Salted Sith Cynic
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Rat cheer
Posts: 34,279
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Your use of the word "Just" betrays a lack of understanding.
Let us postulate 0.1% of all Muslims, or .01% of a billion people. That's 100,000. Consider 100,000 Tim McVeys. At even a 50% success rate, this is not a trivial matter. The peaceful sheep provide a place for the sharks to swim until they wish to strike. Reference? Mao, revolutionary warfare. They are not stupid, they are the enemy. One cannot count on the bulk of one's enemy being 'unable to tie their shoes' as the comment was presented. "These days it only takes one lone nutter to create a terrible attack but thankfully most nutters can't tie their shoelaces together even with instructions from the internet". Complacency is not helpful. Irrational fear is not helpful. Playing chicken little is not helpful. Cold, calculating countermeasures are helpful, as is vigilance and sound police/security work. DR |
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Helicopters don't so much fly as beat the air into submission. "Jesus wept, but did He laugh?"--F.H. Buckley____"There is one thing that was too great for God to show us when He walked upon our earth ... His mirth." --Chesterton__"If the barbarian in us is excised, so is our humanity."--D'rok__ "I only use my gun whenever kindness fails."-- Robert Earl Keen__"Sturgeon spares none.". -- The Marquis |
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#29 |
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Philosopher
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Tranquility Base
Posts: 8,589
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"We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard. Because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our abilities and skills, because that challenge is one we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win." |
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#30 |
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lorcutus.tolere
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 23,127
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The OP contains a number of glaring mistake, to my mind.
Firstly it makes the mistake of assuming that the lack of successful terrorist attacks in the west is evidence that there are no Radical Islamic terrorists wanting to carry out such attacks. This is simply not the case. There have been many attempted attacks. Likewise, there are no doubt many who would carry out such attacks, but lack the means to do so. Finally, and perhaps most significantly, there are a very large number of people who do not wish to carry out such attacks, but support and agree with those that do. In addition, this assumption fails to take into account the considerable effort by authorities to prevent such attacks. Secondly, the OP mistakenly assumes that those declaring that Radical Islam is a serious threat are claiming that there are large numbers of Islamic Radicals, and that they comprise a significant percentage of the total Muslim population. Again, there is no reason to assume this. The nature of terrorism is such that a very small number of people can have a very significant effect. A single islamic terrorist could, with a campaign of bombs, bring a fair sized city to a grinding halt. For an example of how devastating a small group of terrorists can be, I direct you to the Beltway sniper attacks of 2002. Lastly, the OP assumes that those expressing concern about the threat of radical Islam believe that Radical Islam is an immediate and dire threat to Western Society. I cannot speak for anyone else, but as someone that does consider Radical Islam a potentially serious threat, I do not consider it to be an immediate threat. The nature of Radical Islam is such that by the time it really is a serious threat (in 10 years, or 20, or 50, or 100) it will be too late to do anything about it. Radical Islam is a cancer growing inside western society. The threat of Radical Islam is not bombs on trains and buses. It is not hijacked airliners. When the real threat of Radical Islam emerges some time in the next fifty years, they won't need to use bombs and hijackings to get their way. That is the threat of Radical Islam. -Gumboot |
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![]() O xein', angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti têde keimetha tois keinon rhémasi peithomenoi. A fan of fantasy? Check out Project Dreamforge. |
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#31 |
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Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Texas
Posts: 13,768
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Ok, then how does the threat posed by radical islam compare to past threats? Is it more serious than Nazi Germany or the USSR?
Quote:
Quote:
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It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. - Aristotle Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company. - Mark Twain |
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#32 |
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lorcutus.tolere
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 23,127
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That's a pretty difficult question. I think all three threats presented the potential of ultimately destroying Western Civilisation (by replacing it with something else). I also think the threat of Radical Islam is also in some ways much easier to address than Nazism or the USSR. On the other hand, like with the threat of Nazism or the USSR, I think the outcome if the potential threat is totally ignored is about the same. The real threat is that they will achieve their aims via social revolution in the west. They won't need anything to get their way, because our western political systems and western liberalism offer everything they need. -Gumboot |
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![]() O xein', angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti têde keimetha tois keinon rhémasi peithomenoi. A fan of fantasy? Check out Project Dreamforge. |
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#33 |
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Humanistic Cyborg
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Posts: 10,380
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Writing.com Account |
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#34 |
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~The Rascal~
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Cologne
Posts: 17,369
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#35 |
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~The Rascal~
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Cologne
Posts: 17,369
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#36 |
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Howling to glory I go
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 9,621
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But I doesn't matter because you can't just go pulling numbers out of thin air like that.
Darth said to figure .1% of all Muslims. Sure enough that's a scary number. But why not say .0000000001%? I've known people to lose businesses because they've said that even if they only get x customers a day they'll make a profit, but pulled the estimated sales figures out of the air. |
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If people needed video games to live, a national single payer plan to fund those purchases would be a great idea. |
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#37 |
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lorcutus.tolere
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 23,127
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Oliver, this may be hard for you to understand, but unlike the Government of Germany, the Government of New Zealand allows its citizens to express any view they like. The Government of New Zealand allows its citizens to practice any religious customs they wish, as long as those practices do not conflict with our laws. In New Zealand we do not ban something just because we do not agree with what they are saying. That is because New Zealand, unlike Germany, is a free society. -Gumboot |
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![]() O xein', angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti têde keimetha tois keinon rhémasi peithomenoi. A fan of fantasy? Check out Project Dreamforge. |
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#38 |
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lorcutus.tolere
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 23,127
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__________________
![]() O xein', angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti têde keimetha tois keinon rhémasi peithomenoi. A fan of fantasy? Check out Project Dreamforge. |
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#39 |
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Humanistic Cyborg
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Posts: 10,380
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Writing.com Account |
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#40 |
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~The Rascal~
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Cologne
Posts: 17,369
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