@AC 11:35
"We've been through this before - last time a story like this came up, you insisted that there aren't any terrorists,"
Well, *I'VE* never felt terrified ... Never been worried about being hit by meteors, either. And no, before, you ask, I don't play the Lottery ... because I can do math(s).
"let me remind you:"
My memory works, thanks :-)
"The UK any time from the 1970s to the 90s (pIRA)"
I lived in the UK for several, probably ten, of those years. I never felt terrified, despite the tabloids and the rest of the press (hi, Auntie Beeb!) trying to tell me how worried I should feel ...
"The UK in the 80s and 90s and a little 00s (ALF, small, but still terrifying to those targeted)"
Small groups of nutters targeting individuals are bullys, not terrorists.
"9/11"
One-off. A homicidal maniac managed to convince a few nut-jobs to do his dirty-work. It'll never happen again.
"7/7"
One-off, home-grown religious loonies.
"Bali"
Both seem to be completely random, and home-grown ...
"Madrid"
Probably home-grown political dissidents.
"The Una (uni?) bomber"
American born, educated perp.
"The federal building in Texas (I can't remember where it was. tbh)"
Oklahoma. Perp was a Gulf war decorated veteran, Catholic, Republican.
"Not to mention the tens of thousands of the "wrong sort" of Muslim that Al Quada killed."
See: "Crusades".
"These are just off the top of my head."
Indeed. They are. And you are tying them together as a cohesive whole, as if they were all connected in some way. Exactly the way the .gov wants you to view them ... But in reality, they are unconnected acts of anti-social lunacy, completely unrelated to each other.
"You may be going far in the opposite direction of the scare-mongerers to prove a point, but it's just as unhelpful as their point."
Why? Do you ENJOY being afraid of shadows?
"There are terrorists,"
Where? Show me the terrorists, already! But you can't, can you? All you can show me is random acts of anti-social, usually xenophobic, religious hatred. This shit has been happening for tens of thousands of years ... It's only now, with the advent of TV, that the .gov has decided to lump all this randomness under one umbrella called "terrorism". Keeps TheGreatUnwashed[tm] happily peeing in their boots , all the while selling bog roll, beer, razor blade & tampon commercials.
"not /that/ many,"
For values approaching "none" ...
"but they are capable of terrible things."
So am I. So are you. But we don't. We're sane. Well, I am, anyway (kinda ... I do tend to tilt at windmills) ... You seem to be slightly delusional, though ...