The Case for Calling Them Nitwits makes for interesting reading. In the article the authors point out The Gang that Couldn’t Shoot Straight tendencies of many of the would be terrorists that have tried to conduct attacks in the United States and other countries. They point to a dismal success rate of IED detonations in Afghanistan, the so called Underwear Bomber, the  Times Square bomb attempt, and other failed attempts at terror attacks. The tone of the article suggests that the current crop of Al Qaeda, Taliban, and affiliated Islamofascist terrorists are mentally deficient, perverted, and even hypocritical.

The difference between a sophisticated killer like Mohamed Atta and so many of his hapless successors lies in training and inherent aptitude. Atta spent months learning his trade in Afghanistan and had the help of al-Qaeda’s senior leadership—a fact that underscores the importance of rooting out al-Qaeda havens in Pakistan. After all, fighting terrorism is a chore made simpler when we can keep the terrorists as inept as most of them naturally are.

I don’t know if the authors want us to believe that we’re dealing with laughable buffoons who don’t pose a serious threat or not. It certainly seems that way, but maybe the message is different. The truth is that while many of them may be buffoons, many more of them are not. Airport security Kabuki aside, it’s taken a lot of work by a lot of patriotic Americans (and others) in some unpleasant places doing unpleasant things to keep more attacks from happening. While Al Qaeda is not that all knowing, all seeing, terrorism juggernaut that it’s been portrayed as, it is still an extremely dangerous organization that means to harm, no destroy, the western civilizations that it despises.

We shouldn’t let superficial appearances deceive us into thinking that it will be easy to defeat a determined foe. As President Bush said back in 2001 when the most people finally realized that we were in a fight for our lives, this war is going to take a long time to fight and win. The enemy is patient, learns from it’s failures and mistakes, incorporates those lessons into their new plans, and has a long term view of their goals and tactics. We can’t afford to be do any less.

What the rabbits in this advertisement seemed to forget is that while the rattle is laughable, the deadly parts of the rattlesnake are the fangs, which can still kill.

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Laugh at the mishaps of our terrorist foes, but never forget that they still pose a deadly threat.