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US Still Unprepared For Terrorists!

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/12/05/national/w130754S30.DTL

Time, money and ever-present terror threats have done little to close gaping holes in the nation's security system, the former Sept. 11 Commission said Monday in accusing the government of failing to protect the country against another attack.

The panel cited disjointed airplane passenger screening methods, pork-barrel security funding and other problems in saying the Bush administration and Congress had not moved quickly enough to enact the majority of its recommendations of July 2004.

"We're frustrated, all of us — frustrated at the lack of urgency in addressing these various problems," said Thomas Kean, a Republican and former New Jersey governor who was chairman of the commission.

"We shouldn't need another wake-up call," Kean said. "We believe that the terrorists will strike again; so does every responsible expert that we have talked to. And if they do, and these reforms that might have prevented such an attack have not been implemented, what will our excuse be?"

Wrapping up more than three years of investigations and hearings, the former commission issued what members said was their final assessment of the government's counterterror performance as a report card. It gave failing grades in five areas, and issued only one "A" — actually an A-minus — for the Bush administration's efforts to curb terrorist financing.

The five "F"s were for:

_Failing to provide a radio system to allow first responders from different agencies communicate with each other during emergencies.

_Distributing federal homeland security funding to states on a "pork-barrel" basis instead of risk.

_Failing to consolidate names of suspicious airline travelers on a single terror watch screening list.

_Hindering congressional oversight by retaining intelligence budget information as classified materials.

_Failing to engage in an alliance to develop international standards for the treatment and prosecution of detained terror suspects.

Has the Bush Administration really made the US safer from terrorists, or is that just hype? Is the reason we haven't had an attack since 9/11 the efforts of the Administration, or have we just been lucky? What do you think?
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
Victor said:
I think he has done SOMETHING. Is it enough? No. What's enough? I dont know.

~Victor
Do you think he's focused too much on Iraq, and not enough on the US, in fighting terrorism?
 

Quiddity

UndertheInfluenceofGiants
Sunstone said:
Do you think he's focused too much on Iraq, and not enough on the US, in fighting terrorism?

It is the US majority after 9/11 that decided and supported the fight against terroism. They should finish what they supported.

``Victor
 

greatcalgarian

Well-Known Member
I believe what the 9/11 comments relate to not enough have been done to improve the HOME security situation at US. 9/11 commision definitely did not propose to attack Afghanistan and Iraq as a way to effectively remove terrorism threat to USA. What were recommended are to improve the home security. Not by attacking to deter being attacked (pre-emptive strike).

On the other hand, the repeated emphasis on insufficient attention to curb nuclear and chemical weapon may be hinting that US should carpet bomb North Korea and Afghanistan to ensure those nuclear weapon will not fall into the hand of the terrorists. It may also have something to do with trying to secure fund to build the anti-ballistic defence system.:D
 

Jaymes

The cake is a lie
What, you don't think going and attacking a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 doesn't protect us from terrorists?
 

Ardent Listener

Active Member
greatcalgarian said:
I believe what the 9/11 comments relate to not enough have been done to improve the HOME security situation at US. 9/11 commision definitely did not propose to attack Afghanistan and Iraq as a way to effectively remove terrorism threat to USA. What were recommended are to improve the home security. Not by attacking to deter being attacked (pre-emptive strike).

On the other hand, the repeated emphasis on insufficient attention to curb nuclear and chemical weapon may be hinting that US should carpet bomb North Korea and Afghanistan to ensure those nuclear weapon will not fall into the hand of the terrorists. It may also have something to do with trying to secure fund to build the anti-ballistic defence system.:D
All the good an anti-ballistic defense system would do aganist a nuke packed in a box, on a boat, in New York harbor.:eek:
 

greatcalgarian

Well-Known Member
Jensa said:
What, you don't think going and attacking a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 doesn't protect us from terrorists?
Something like that, but please use no negative so that I can easier understand what you are trying to say :D like

I think going and attacking a country that has something to do with 9/11 does protect us from terrorists.:biglaugh:
 

greatcalgarian

Well-Known Member
Ardent Listener said:
All the good an anti-ballistic defense system would do aganist a nuke packed in a box, on a boat, in New York harbor.:eek:
You got the point there. It is important to improve home security rather than being paranoic about an intercontinental missles.
 

Darkdale

World Leader Pretend
Jensa said:
What, you don't think going and attacking a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 doesn't protect us from terrorists?

The idea is to attack the root of terror... Oppression.
 

greatcalgarian

Well-Known Member
The fighters termed by US as terrorists thought that US is the oppressor:149: , and they are fighting US to liberate their people from Uncle Sam (I have not seen this term used for a long long time).....this must be Ardent Listerner point of view.

On the other hand, Darkdale is of the opinion that America is THE only great champion and defender of democracy and freedom :eek: , and is fighting those terrorists who have been oppressing those people of the middle east, and it is the holy duty of US citizen to shed their blood to fight these terrorists.

Make sense?

I think I am confused.:help:
 

Darkdale

World Leader Pretend
greatcalgarian said:
On the other hand, Darkdale is of the opinion that America is THE only great champion and defender of democracy and freedom :eek: , and is fighting those terrorists who have been oppressing those people of the middle east, and it is the holy duty of US citizen to shed their blood to fight these terrorists.

Yeah, so, how is that wrong? :162:
 

bartdanr

Member
Sunstone said:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/12/05/national/w130754S30.DTL

Has the Bush Administration really made the US safer from terrorists, or is that just hype? Is the reason we haven't had an attack since 9/11 the efforts of the Administration, or have we just been lucky? What do you think?
Thanks for the thread, Sunstone.

I doubt if only luck was involved in keeping the US safe from terrorists since 9/11--remember, that's four years ago. Four years without a major terrorist operation successful in the US...more than luck is involved. I don't believe in luck, and I don't believe that the terrorists are just patiently waiting for us to let down our guard. (And if they are waiting for that, then it's obvious our guard is up.)

Don't forget the invasion of Afghanistan (the forgotten war)...this denied Al-Qada a safe base of operations and has them running and hiding...and as an added bonus, liberated millions of people from a mideval theocracy.

I would say that the biggest undone thing is the securing of the US boarders. The swiss-cheese boarders allow relatively unmpeded access by terrorists into this country. A beefed-up boarder patrol (combined with some kind of guest worker program) would help let people who want to work legally in, and keep terrorists out. (Before you think of this as some kind of xenophobic comment, consider that I'm married to a legal Latin American immagrint.)

We need to persue (and I think to a limited degree, are persuing) a two-pronged approach on the war on terror: (1) secure the homeland and (2) attack the terrorists where they are by (a) denying them a base of operations, (b) denying them funding, and (c) improve conditions that otherwise breed terrorism. The last one is probably the most difficult and long-term, and results won't happen quickly.

The Iraq question of course is hotly debated, whether this ultimately will make us safer or not. In my opinion, the jury's still out. It is obvious that blunders were made in the intelligence assessment and in the prosecution of the war.

Peace
 

greatcalgarian

Well-Known Member
The conspiracy theorists proposed that 9/11 was allowed to happen with the tacit/passive "permission" of some US authorities so that the US nation can be awaken to fight the "Islamic" enemy, and also allow the US government easier to pass law, and to make wars. Once that objective is achieved, then there is no need to allow any more terrorists events to happen again at US. That is why US has peace from terrorist attack on the homeland for the past four years. This is because the US did and do have the ability to prevent any big scale terrorist attacks from happening at the home land. However, if the US citizen support of the war is seen to wane,then those pepetrators may allow another 9/11 to happen under again their controlled way of unrolling.

This conspiracy theory is very frightening.
 

bartdanr

Member
greatcalgarian said:
The conspiracy theorists proposed that 9/11 was allowed to happen with the tacit/passive "permission" of some US authorities so that the US nation can be awaken to fight the "Islamic" enemy, and also allow the US government easier to pass law, and to make wars. Once that objective is achieved, then there is no need to allow any more terrorists events to happen again at US. That is why US has peace from terrorist attack on the homeland for the past four years. This is because the US did and do have the ability to prevent any big scale terrorist attacks from happening at the home land. However, if the US citizen support of the war is seen to wane,then those pepetrators may allow another 9/11 to happen under again their controlled way of unrolling.

This conspiracy theory is very frightening.

Hi Greatcalgarian, thanks for the post.

The trouble with most conspiracy theories is that they depend on too many people staying silent for too long. Government officials are notorious blabbermouths, in order to make themselves look good to the media...because they're little egos were hurt...or because they have pangs of conscience, or whatever.

I find this theory, like nearly all other conspiracy theories, as unbelievable and not backed up by a shred of evidence. That won't stop "true believers" from believing in it, just like those who believe that until someone proves to them that there isn't an invisible purple dragon living on the far side of the moon, they'll still believe it.

Peace
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
GreatCalgarian said:
This is because the US did and do have the ability to prevent any big scale terrorist attacks from happening at the home land.
This ascribes to the US Government a level of competence that is admirable, but mythic.
 

Darkdale

World Leader Pretend
greatcalgarian said:
The conspiracy theorists proposed that 9/11 was allowed to happen with the tacit/passive "permission" of some US authorities so that the US nation can be awaken to fight the "Islamic" enemy, and also allow the US government easier to pass law, and to make wars. Once that objective is achieved, then there is no need to allow any more terrorists events to happen again at US. That is why US has peace from terrorist attack on the homeland for the past four years. This is because the US did and do have the ability to prevent any big scale terrorist attacks from happening at the home land. However, if the US citizen support of the war is seen to wane,then those pepetrators may allow another 9/11 to happen under again their controlled way of unrolling.

This conspiracy theory is very frightening.

:biglaugh: awww c'mon. It's not that frightening. It's a little funny to think that the next time terrorists decide to kill americans the nutjobs will actually blame our government... but I don't think people are going to buy that nonsense.
 

CaptainXeroid

Following Christ
Sunstone said:
...Has the Bush Administration really made the US safer from terrorists, or is that just hype?...
With the attack on the Taliban in Afghanistan, yes. With the subsequent failure to find WMDs in Iraq and control its borders after the invasion, I would say 'NO'.
Sunstone said:
...Is the reason we haven't had an attack since 9/11 the efforts of the Administration, or have we just been lucky? What do you think?
One important thing to remember is that on 9/11/2001, there had not been a US plane hijacked in eleven years. These hijackers exploited specific weaknesses that we believe have since been addressed.

I would not say that the efforts of the Bush administration are 100% responsible for our not having an attack since 9/11. The terror networks were certainly disrupted through the Afghanistan invasion and arrests here and abroad, but much like we adapted to a new threat, it is certain they will as well. True, they are not as well funded as the US government, but for lack of a better term they don't have the overhead.:D

For all we know, they are regrouping and planning the next attack as we post. The problems in Iraq seem to have given ammunition(pardon the pun) to anti-American groups to recruit future terrorists.

The challenge will be if our government has infiltrated these groups or at least has a better 'ear to the ground' to anticipate whatever they might be planning next.
 
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