Yesterday, someone said to me, "Well, at least we made it through September 11th without another attack." He'd been worried about the possibility of Al Qaeda performing an anniversary celebration of terror.
This is certainly a worry the media and the Bush Administration like to foster, but when has Al Qaeda ever struck on the anniversary of an earlier attack? That's not their style. Releasing an anniversary video from Osama bin Laden, yes. However, Al Qaeda terror strikes are shrewdly random.
The terrorists who do seem to like anniversaries are our homegrown angry young men. I don't worry about September, but I've started holding my breath during April.
First there was the Murrah Building bombing in Oklahoma City, perpetrated on the anniversary of the Branch Davidian debacle in Waco, April 19th. Then, the Columbine killers appear to have timed their massacre to coincide with the anniversary of the Murrah Bombing (they were a day late, because of technical difficulties). Now, this year, we have the Virginia Tech massacre on April 16th. And, closer to my heart, the young man who set a bonfire on the Earlham College campus also chose April 16th.
Shrewd terrorists know that attacks must be unexpected to be effective. Unhinged young men, on the other hand, attach themselves to anniversaries. So I'd say, rest easy on September 11th, but step up security on school campuses during the month of April.