Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to another round of Spot the Terrorist. I'm your host weatherdude, and it's my pleasure to assist you in weeding out evildooers in the United States.
This game is simple. I'm going to have you read news stories (with a few redactions that do not affect the integrity of the story), and then you will decide whether or not the person who committed the act is a terrorist. Seems simple enough, right? Let's begin.
SUSPECT 1:
Authorities said Thursday that 13 people were hurt - two critically - after [name redacted] deliberately flew a small plane into a building where the Internal Revenue Service had about 200 workers.
"It felt like a bomb blew off," said Peggy Walker, an IRS revenue officer who was sitting at her desk. "The ceiling caved in and windows blew in. We got up and ran."
Sounds like a terrorist, right? Flying a plane into a building, especially one housing government offices and employees, is considered terrorism for the most part. On to the next one...
SUSPECT 2:
NEW YORK – A [redacted] who tried to set off a car bomb in Times Square was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison by a judge who said she hopes he spends time behind bars thinking "carefully about whether the Koran wants you to kill lots of people."
A defiant [redacted] smirked as he was given a mandatory life term that, under federal sentencing rules, will keep him behind bars until he dies.
Car bomb in a crowded, massively popular tourist attraction. Terrorism in my book.
SUSPECT 3:
A California man accused in a shootout with California Highway Patrol officers in Oakland early Sunday told officials that he traveled to San Francisco and planned to attack two nonprofit groups there "to start a revolution," according to a probable cause statement released by police.
According to Thomason, [redacted] told investigators that he was disturbed because he was unable to find a job due to the poor economy.
[His mother] said to the San Francisco Chronicle that her son was angry with "the way Congress was railroading through all these left-wing agenda items."
Shooting at police officers, intending to shoot up an office building to start a revolution, and bitterness towards our country. That's how the Bush administration described the terrorists in 2001, so this guy must be a terrorist as well.
SUSPECT 4:
[redacted] boarded a Northwest Airlines jumbo jet flight from Amsterdam to Detroit and near the end of the trip he tried to ignite a bomb sewn into his underwear, prosecutors said.
They said it failed to fully detonate and he was subdued by the passengers and crew and the fire was contained.
He was subsequently charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, attempted murder and four other offenses, charges that could lead to life in prison if convicted.
Blowing up an aircraft in an attempt to kill those on board and potentially people on the ground. Terrorist? You betcha.
THE RESULTS:
All 4 of these creeps are terrorists. They all committed acts intending (and some succeeding) to create as much death and destruction as possible. But, if you're the American media, only two are terrorists. Which one do you think was the terrorist according to the media? We report, you decide.
SUSPECT 1 is Joseph Stack, a middle aged white male who was described as angry at his government. In most news accounts, he was described as an angry man fed up with his government. The term "terrorism" was quickly discounted, and replaced with "isolated incident." The news coverage of this terrorist act lasted until the fires were put out, about 4 hours after the plane crash.
SUSPECT 2 is Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani immigrant who took pride in calling himself a terrorist. News coverage of the incident was almost wall-to-wall for over a week, with the headline "TERRORIST THWARTED" slathered on everything.
SUSPECT 3 is Byron Williams, a convicted felon with a bone to pick with the government. His own mother said that his terrorist actions were inspired by Glenn Beck. The story got very little coverage in the national media, covering maybe 30 seconds of a 30 minute cycle.
SUSPECT 4 is Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian national with ties to al Qaeda. Infamously named "The Underwear Bomber," Abdulmutallab unsuccessfully ignited a bomb hidden in the lining of his underwear. This terrorist incident set off a national and political firestorm, lasting dozens of news cycles and taking up most news coverage for at least two weeks.
Do you see a pattern? Yup. All 4 of these men are terrorists, but only 2 of them are called terrorists. Good ol' American double-standard for you. As I said in a comment in blue aardvark's diary about the attempted Spokane bombing, "It's not being covered because the backpack didn't register any traces of Muslim on the MSMometer."
Story Links & Picture Sources:
Stack & Picture: http://www.cbsnews.com/...
Shahzad & Picture: http://www.foxnews.com/...
Williams & Picture: http://www.cbsnews.com/...
Abdulmutallab & Picture: http://www.reuters.com/...