The news yesterday about a possible al Qaeda attack in the coming months on American soil signifies al Qaeda’s dying wish. And if these newest reports bear true, and al Qaeda seeks to offer up an election surprise of their own, they will truly have awoken a sleeping giant–one that has been sidetracked in Iraq for the past year.
It’s no small wonder that al Qaeda won big in Spain. With such a clear cause-and-effect, what else is a terror network to think? After all, there are some traces of such an all-out victory that the Soviet Union had no option but to collapse.
While that’s certainly going a bit far, the boost to certain elements in the Arab world that they had defeated a world superpower through unconventional means should not be lost on the casual observer.
Recent news suggests that the terrorists’ Madrid victory has led them to consider such an action in the United States.
Attorney General John Ashcroft said yesterday that targets may include the upcoming Democratic and Republican national conventions.
“This disturbing news shows a particular intention to hit the United States hard,” he said. “Beyond this intelligence, al-Qaeda’s own public statements suggest that it is almost ready to attack the United States.”
But if anything, an attack on U.S. soil in an election year will harden the resolve of both candidates in their fight against terrorism and, quite possibly, a very real and concerted effort to wipe al Qaeda off the face of the earth, a focus that has been somewhat shifted to Iraq for the past year.
And no matter how much some members of the right spin it, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry will not shirk from the Iraqi duty. Personally, he may want to. But suffice it to say that it would be nothing short of political suicide. And Kerry is, first and foremost, a politician. Medal-gate can attest to that.
And if it plays out like this–to say nothing of our preventative measures–it could be al Qaeda’s dying breath. Both men will hit al Qaeda hard. Even harder with the amount of public support they would enojy following such an attack. Does “by any means necessary” ring a bell?.