Domestic terrorism, why arent we as a nation more concerned about the battle at home than the one that might come from abroad?

PFC Alexander Oliveira — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 18:32:56 -0500

Why don't we pay more attention and put more focus on school, workplace, and home shootings? And are we noticing a pattern of domestic terrorist? Or am I the only one noticing the armed white males shooting up a movie theater in Colorado, Sandy Hook elementary, UCSB, the Michigan uber driver, I could go on.

Response by SP5 Mark Kuzinski made Mar 2 at 2016 6:35 PM

SP5 Mark Kuzinski — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 18:35:59 -0500

Great post and I think that all of us are very concerned about what is happening around us - more and more each and every day. All of us have to stay vigilant.

Response by LTC Yinon Weiss made Mar 2 at 2016 6:37 PM

LTC Yinon Weiss — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 18:37:57 -0500

Terrorism is a real and significant threat, but terrorism works primarily through psychological methods... making people respond disproportionally to the events themselves. That is the whole point of terrorism. If we begin to let the threat of terrorism change our daily habits, change our schools, workplaces, and our homes, then we lose. There are 80,000 people a year who die from alcohol related incidents, 32,000 from car accidents, and 200,000 from medical mistakes, while terrorism, as tragic and sensational as it is, is in the handful or dozens. You are more likely to die just falling down your own stairs or by accidental drowning in a swimming pool. I'm not by any means trying to downplay the importance of defeating terrorist groups, nor the tragedies that they are capable of inflicting. When left unchecked, they can build up devastating capacities which are a national threat. We have to continue to deter and fight terrorist groups, but not change our lifestyle because of a movie theater shooting or a Michigan Uber driver.

Response by PFC Alexander Oliveira made Mar 2 at 2016 6:39 PM

PFC Alexander Oliveira — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 18:39:30 -0500

Response by SGT Roberto Mendoza-Diaz made Mar 2 at 2016 6:49 PM

SGT Roberto Mendoza-Diaz — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 18:49:20 -0500

Not only white people but people of every color, race or ethnicity.

Response by Cpl Tou Lee Yang made Mar 2 at 2016 7:05 PM

Cpl Tou Lee Yang — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 19:05:43 -0500

White people shooting up people are not terrorist, they're mentally unstable. Black people are considered thugs. Mexicans are considered drug dealers. Asian is considered suicidal. And only Muslim would be consider terrorist.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Mar 2 at 2016 7:06 PM

CPT Jack Durish — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 19:06:29 -0500

You may have skipped classes the day they explained the "Fly Paper" theory. To be fair, your teachers may have omitted any mention of it. The concept is to engage the enemy elsewhere so they don't have to come looking here for us. It seems to have worked in the main thus far. (Let's hope it continues to work)

Ah, but you're not talking about terrorism, are you. You're talking about crime. That's a whole other subject that isn't taught to well these days. I almost hate to touch that one in 25 words or less, but here goes...

Crime rates vary in inverse proportion to enforcement. Inasmuch as enforcement is a local issue, crime rates vary greatly from place to place. For example, in America's major metropolitan areas where political correctness has hamstrung law enforcement, crime is rampant. In middle-America, where the rule of law is taught in homes, schools, and places of worship, and law enforcement is respected, civilians help them in the execution of their duties, crime is almost non-existent. Hate crimes also are rarer in these areas (which leads to another interesting discussion).

There you have it. Now, everybody on "3", you may jump all over me for this...1 - 2 - 3

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Mar 2 at 2016 7:59 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 19:59:59 -0500

We started the mess in Afghanistan and Iraq, learned many lessons like the local forces must be molded into a strong fighting force to kill the enemy, but first you have to go get them.

Response by PO1 Nathan Watts made Mar 2 at 2016 8:41 PM

PO1 Nathan Watts — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 20:41:27 -0500

Those of us working directly in the Security Field are dedicated to implement solutions, procedures, and public education in order to facilitate the very change of awareness that you speak of.
An individual is smart and can be reasoned with whereas the masses are slow to learn and prone to simply "go with the herd."
Have faith - it will take time - but we *are* making progress.
- Senior Security Consultant
- Stanley Security Solutions

Response by SGT Joe Sabedra made Mar 2 at 2016 8:56 PM

SGT Joe Sabedra — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 20:56:41 -0500

Everything you mentioned is not terrorism.
It's just crazy people.
A guy screams alah ice bar and then attacks someone/people that's a terrorist.
Domestic terrorism is instilling fear for a larger goal not attacking for the attack.

Rest assured there are many organizations on conus that are on patrol and watching.

Patriot Gaurd, OathKeepers, III%ers are just to name a few.

They are in the shadows.

Watching over funerals, fairing recruiting stations and watching the back of officers pumping gas or eating lunch.

They Are Everywhere.

Response by COL Ted Mc made Mar 2 at 2016 10:25 PM

COL Ted Mc — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 22:25:15 -0500

PFC Alexander Oliveira - Private; It makes people uncomfortable to think that "people like us" could do bad things, so the easiest thing to do is not to think about it as much as you can.

Response by SPC Darren Koele made Mar 2 at 2016 11:32 PM

SPC Darren Koele — Wed, 02 Mar 2016 23:32:31 -0500

First of all, those things you mentioned are not terrorism. The one thing they all have in common is the shooter suffered mental health issues. And, in my opinion, there is much focus on these but the problem is, the focus is on the wrong aspect. One group of people looks at these and says "we have a mental health care problem in this country" while another group says "we need to ban guns". Well, in order to keep things simple, the first group is correct, though they have no answers beyond that. The problem is, no one has answers beyond that. The mental health care in this country is severely lacking in all aspects; diagnosis, definition, treatment, etc. It seems we send these people to get help, the help throws drugs at them and ships them back out to society as everything should be okay now. So I think you are mistaken when you say there is no focus on those issues.
When it does come to terrorism, the problem there lies in the fact that we live a world where people want to force political correctness down our throats, much to our detriment. When you have a president, agency heads, and other politicians who are afraid, or simply reluctant to call something terrorism because you don't want to offend this group or that, then we have a problem; but the application of that restraint is very selective.
The fact is, terrorists are here and they want to kill you. Some of these terrorist are domestic and some are international. Why sit here and say we should focus on one and not the other; Timothy McVeigh and the 9/11 attacks, what's the difference, really? They both killed a bunch of innocent on US soil. Beyond the other details (white vs Muslim, anti-government vs jihadist), what really is the difference? There is none. As I said, both attacks killed a bunch of people, both attacks occurred on US soil. Anyone could be a terrorist.
There is one area here I believe there is zero focus and, in my opinion, is potentially a bigger threat than the terrorists and the psycho shooters, that would be gangs. According to the FBI, there 1.5 million gang members in the US. Gangs account for up to 80% of crime in the US. Some of these gangs have strong ties to violent drug cartels (MS-13) and are equally brutal. Sure, you don't hear about gangland mass shootings, 1) because they don't get media attention 2) the victim is usually another gang member, 3)because it usually isn't a mass shooting. However, you can have 4 dead in a mass shooting and it's national news with loud calls for gun control, yet you can 8 people killed in a week from gangs and not a single word is said. Sure, the gangs mostly target each other, but they have targeted innocents, they target the police, and innocent citizens do get killed "accidentally" by gangs, What is to stop them from hitting innocent citizens on a regular basis when the "timing is right"?
You have asked a big question here and one without a simple or short answer The answer I have for you is "focus is lacking due to political agendas and ideologies, political correctness, and on the issue of mental health, there is no quick and easy solution so they run away from it and focus on guns and the only groups that can be targeted in a politically correct environment; the white right-wing Christians.

Response by LCDR Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 3 at 2016 8:14 AM

LCDR Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 08:14:06 -0500

Well, I think...Nah, on second thought ya'll have fun with that.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Mar 3 at 2016 9:38 AM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 09:38:33 -0500

No Argument From me. Domestic Terrorism Enabled and Empowered by the NRA.

Response by Cpl Rc Layne made Mar 3 at 2016 9:55 AM

Cpl Rc Layne — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 09:55:13 -0500

Because the vast majority of people don't believe that anything will ever happen to them.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 3 at 2016 10:27 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 10:27:33 -0500

A nut committing a mass shooting for whatever reason does not equal terrorism. Terrorists seek to achieve a political objective through their actions. Mass shooters are typically just mad at the world and want to go out in a blaze of "glory".
They are not equivalent, or even close cousins. The only thing they have in common is a body count.

Response by SFC Chris Horton made Mar 4 at 2016 1:53 AM

SFC Chris Horton — Fri, 04 Mar 2016 01:53:15 -0500

Check out the Dept. of Justice website. There's a lot of info on whats happening and how its being dealt with at a national level. Theres more to the story than white males shooting places up.