Worldwide terrorist plots

Those in the USA who think that the terrorist attack against the Boston marathon was an isolated incident, one of a kind, should think again.  Here is a short list of countries where recent terrorist plots have been carried out or where they have been prevented by timely action:

• Bulgaria, 5 Israelis and one Bulgarian killed in bombing at the Burgas airport attributed to Hizbollah, 2012;
• Azerbaijan, security services arrested 22 people who were hired by Iran to carry out terrorist attacks against U.S. and Israeli targets, Mar 14, 2012;
• Turkey, the US Embassy in Ankara was damaged by a suicide bomber, Feb, 2013;
• Nepal, an Iranian acting suspiciously was arrested by guards at the Israeli Embassy and turned over to the Nepalese authorities, April 13, 2013;
• USA, three killed and 170 injured by two bombs at the Boston marathon, April 15, 2013;
• India, a bomb blast near the BJP party headquarters in Bangalore left 16 people injured, April 17, 2013;
• Britain, Four men were jailed in Britain for planning terrorist attacks, including planning to blow up an army reserve center, April 18, 2013;
• Canada, two arrested yesterday in plot to derail a train between Toronto and New York, April 22, 2013;

Does anyone have any doubt about this now, that there is a world-wide organized campaign of terrorism against US and Israeli targets, mostly perpetrated by Muslim extremists, some linked to al Qaeda and some to Iran, or both.  The successful ones recently were in Bulgaria and the USA.  Although the perpetrators in Boston were found, there was clear evidence of naievete and wishful thinking in dealing with this threat.  There was no positive vetting of the spectators, no attempt to check bulky backpacks such as worn by the two Tsarnaev brothers.  Of course, after the bombings, the US typically flooded the whole city with thousands of police, local, state and FBI, etc., and locked down the whole city, containing millions of people, somewhat overkill (an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure).  Even with that force they did not find the second killer lurking nearby for 3 days, it was only after they lifted the lockdown order that a local man found the tarpaulin on his parked boat was torn and there was blood around it and he saw someone lying inside.  Now if they had not ordered the lockdown, Dzhokar Tsarnaev would have been found at least a day earlier.

The Russians requested information about the older brother Tamarlan Tsarnaev from the US more than a year ago, yet the FBI found nothing suspicious and closed the case.  What an example of blissful incompetence.  Tamarlan travelled to Russia last year where he spent ca. 6 months in Dagestan.  Noone knows what he did there, but he could also have travelled elsewhere for training, indoctrination, etc.  Is it concern for his human rights that prevented the US from taking this kind of "homegrown" threat seriously.  Isn't the pattern clear enough by now, there have been British-born Pakistani men who have gone to Pakistan and received miltiary training for terrorism, Somali men from the US who have been trained in Somalia, and Yemenis who have gone back to Yemem for training, etc.  If any young man of Muslim background returns to his home country for an extended period, he must be put on a terrorist watch list.  Either the US gets serious about terrorism or more Americans will die.