Dangerous Math

 

 

"It is just way, way, way too tempting of a target for blood thirsty America haters..." 

This morning I had to freshen up on my math. Seems the bad guys never give us a rest, never give us a break. Always something new and scary to worry about. The math equation is simply this: Take the Twin Cities with a population of 100,000 Somali immigrants, add in the nation's largest shopping mall (the Mall of America which is also in the Twin Cities), then finally add in a just released video from al -Shabaab which is a "call to arms" to terrorists worldwide. And what is the "call to arms"? Attack the Mall of America (MOA). GPS coordinates of the Mall were even included in the video.

Now that is not fuzzy Obama Administration math, nor is it Common Core math - it is dangerous math. For some of us, this was no more than a "Duh!" Like we could not see this coming? As far as I am concerned, we have been living on borrowed time with the safety of the MOA. It is way, way, way too tempting of a target for blood thirsty zealots. And what about the name itself? Does the name "Mall of America" not say it all for America haters? Like the World Trade Centers, our mall is a symbol for everything terrorists hate. Freedom and capitalism, just to name a couple of them.

What to do. Do we now have to go through full body scans before we step foot inside of the Mall? Use facial recognition on everyone who enters? Profile?

Just as wee bit of a fresher, al-Shabaab is al-Qaeda's affiliate in Somalia. Yes, al-Qaeda is still around. And still dangerous. Although the news feed has been filled with the new upstart ISIL, al-Qaeda and it's affiliates are still capable of doing some very bad things.

Even though our drone strikes have recently killed the chief bomb maker for al-Shabaab, this group is known for innovative ways to hide explosives. This group, along with their sister group in the region (AQAP - al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula), have very good bomb making capabilities. My biggest fear is some of those hard to detect bombs (or technology on how to make them) will make their way into the Twin Cities. With 100,000 Somalis living in the Twin Cities, if only 1% have been turned by al-Shabaab, that is still a huge number.

The news said this morning the MOA is aware of the threat and taking measures to counter it. Translation - the terrorists have already won part of the battle. There will be a certain number of people who will stay as far away as possible from the MOA. Those who do go, might have to endure more intrusive facial recognition or searches. Going shopping will now be considered by some a risky event, instead of an enjoyable outing.

What is next? Target Field? Target Stadium? TCF Stadium? The Guthrie? The new Vikings Stadium? Our places of worship? As has been said before, we may not think we are at war, but the other side does. For us to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear is nothing more than a fool's errand. I may be wrong, and I really hope I am. A huge wake-up call may be in the offering. I just hope it does not happen here.