Since 9/11, there have been 31 foiled terror attacks on United States soil. Trouble is, of those 31, nearly a third of them have occurred since President Barack Obama took office in January 2009.
The president's desire to recast the War on Terror as an "overseas contingency operation," has been effectual only in that it moved the theater of the operation to America's heartland. As a result, American citizens have been forced to become much more vigilant.
Here's a look at the terror incidents -- successful and unsuccessful -- on U.S. soil since Obama's inauguration.
May 1, 2010: New York City (Times Square)
A naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan, accused of driving an explosive-laden SUV into Times Square and attempting to detonate it, is arrested at John F. Kennedy International Airport after boarding a plane bound for Abu Dhabi in an attempt to flee.
March 26, 2010: Chicago
A naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan working as a U.S. cab driver is arrested for allegedly helping al Qaeda purchase explosives by supplying the organization with money.
Dec. 25, 2009: Detroit, Mich.
An al Qaeda-trained 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is arrested after a device he allegedly detonates fails to explode on a trans-continental plane originating from Amsterdam. Abdulmutallab is overcome by passengers who put out the flames and subdue him. He later tells investigators he is "the first of many," apparently unaware that he is actually the fourth or fifth of many.
What is particularly frightening about the "Underwear Bomber" (as he would come to be known) is what might have been. This is the first incident in which a fully-operational bomb, capable of inflicting catastrophic damage, is hampered only by the inexperience of the bomber.
What is particularly frightening about the "Underwear Bomber" (as he would come to be known) is what might have been. This is the first incident in which a fully-operational bomb, capable of inflicting catastrophic damage, is hampered only by the inexperience of the bomber.
Nov. 5, 2009: Fort Hood Military Base in Fort Hood, Texas
Major Hasan is taken into custody by military police for allegedly killing 13 military personnel and wounding more than 40 others. He is later linked to al-Qaeda.Oct. 16, 2009: Philadelphia, Pa.
A natural-born American woman, who goes by the moniker "Jihad Jane," is arrested at Philadelphia International Airport and later charged with plotting to kill a Swedish cartoonist who poked fun at Islam's prophet, Mohammed.Sept. 24, 2009: Springfield, Ill.
An American convert to Islam is arrested and charged with attempting to bomb the Paul Findley Federal Building.Sept. 24, 2009: Dallas, Texas
A Jordanian man is arrested for attempting to blow up a Dallas skyscraper. The device is a decoy, however, sold to him by an undercover FBI agent.Sept. 19, 2009: New York and Colorado
Three men, the al Qaeda-trained Najibullah Zazi, 24; his father Mohammed Wali Zazi, 53; and Queens imam Ahmad Wais Afzali, 37 are arrested in connection with a terror plot to blow up targets in New York City.June 1, 2009: Little Rock, Ark.
A suspected anti-military Muslim convert is arrested for shooting two soldiers, killing one and wounding another, outside a shopping mall.
May 21, 2009: Bronx, N.Y.
The FBI arrests four Muslim men in an alleged home-grown terror plot to bomb Bronx synagogues and shoot down a U.S. plane. The explosives and equipment they purchase, however, turn out to be fakes, bought from undercover agents posing as Pakistani militants linked to Al Qaeda.U.S. Terrorism Tracker
Tracking Terrorism in the United States
Note: Add to this list the attempt of ISLAM to build a mosque at Ground Zero. Bee Sting
