4 ms·

Interesting point. But why? Do you happen to know an explanation for why most modern terror attacks are so low/no-tech?

ams6110 10y ago
Nitrating organic compounds in a shed is a good way to blow yourself up, at least before you intend to.
noir_lord 10y ago
People willing to martyr themselves in loan wolf attacks are often mentally I'll or simply not that bright, also however low tech they are, sadly they work.
donw 10y ago
For a couple of reasons. Probably first and foremost is that the goal is to terrorize, not necessarily to kill. You don't need to invest a large amount of resources to make that happen in an age where the political-media complex will launch a full-scale freak-out over stuff that is one of wholly unverified, outright falsehood, or utterly trivial. The second is that, if you have the personal knowledge to build weapons without killing yourself in the process, then there are much more lucrative things you can do with your life, on either side of the law. It takes a mix of both knowledge and the willingness to use it to (quite literally) murder your neighbors, which is a pretty uncommon combination. Third, is that, for the most part, the organizations that would engage in these sort of attacks are fairly easy for law enforcement to infiltrate and influence. The massive surveillance state isn't necessary. You just need a decent number of undercover cops that join groups that might be inclined to engage in terrorism, and either attempt to steer them away from violence from within, or wait until the group sets up a big attack and then have the rest of the law enforcement apparatus waiting. This is why, by the way, we haven't really seen a lot of highly organized attacks in the US. Individual attackers, or on occasion members of the same family (brothers, spouses, etc.) can on occasion launch a successful attack, but when lines of communication stretch outside of a family unit, then you can bet that law enforcement is in the loop. Either because of undercover infiltration, or because people are in general decent. Think about it: if one of your friends were to come to you and ask you to help them blow up the headquarters of a group of people you don't like, you would probably let the authorities know. As many problems as we have with both law enforcement and our criminal justice system, they do a very good job on this front.

Nitrating organic compounds in a shed is a good way to blow yourself up, at least before you intend to.

People willing to martyr themselves in loan wolf attacks are often mentally I'll or simply not that bright, also however low tech they are, sadly they work.

donw 10y ago

For a couple of reasons. Probably first and foremost is that the goal is to terrorize, not necessarily to kill. You don't need to invest a large amount of resources to make that happen in an age where the political-media complex will launch a full-scale freak-out over stuff that is one of wholly unverified, outright falsehood, or utterly trivial. The second is that, if you have the personal knowledge to build weapons without killing yourself in the process, then there are much more lucrative things you can do with your life, on either side of the law. It takes a mix of both knowledge and the willingness to use it to (quite literally) murder your neighbors, which is a pretty uncommon combination. Third, is that, for the most part, the organizations that would engage in these sort of attacks are fairly easy for law enforcement to infiltrate and influence. The massive surveillance state isn't necessary. You just need a decent number of undercover cops that join groups that might be inclined to engage in terrorism, and either attempt to steer them away from violence from within, or wait until the group sets up a big attack and then have the rest of the law enforcement apparatus waiting. This is why, by the way, we haven't really seen a lot of highly organized attacks in the US. Individual attackers, or on occasion members of the same family (brothers, spouses, etc.) can on occasion launch a successful attack, but when lines of communication stretch outside of a family unit, then you can bet that law enforcement is in the loop. Either because of undercover infiltration, or because people are in general decent. Think about it: if one of your friends were to come to you and ask you to help them blow up the headquarters of a group of people you don't like, you would probably let the authorities know. As many problems as we have with both law enforcement and our criminal justice system, they do a very good job on this front.