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Are we safer now than we were immediately after 9/11, or have we just been lucky?
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Results so far:
| Safer | 37% | 318 votes | Total: 870 votes | |
| Lucky | 63% | 552 votes |
Safer
by Dave Nocera
Created on: September 23, 2007 Last Updated: December 22, 2008
As a kid each time I descended those basement steps a monster was ready to grab my legs. The fears that gripped us as children came from our vivid imaginations. Then life's lessons taught us that monsters are not real; 9-11 changed all that.
Terrorist acts cannot be completely prevented; everyone has a different way of dealing with it.
1) Some people are in outright denial and they call 9-11 "inside job" and the airplanes flown by terrorist were a cover story. Of course these conspiracy advocates can't explain 1000 inconsistencies, like how a fire that burned hot enough to melt metal for two hours didn't ignite the explosives that they claim really brought down the towers.
2) Some people think America deserved it; these are the same type of depraved individuals who believe a rape victim in provocative clothes deserved it. Even if you don't agree with American policy, no one deserved to die.
3) Some think 9-11 was a long time ago and the risk of something like that happening again is minimal. Out memories are short and its hard to believe something so horrible will happen again. This is most likely the greatest risk we face.
4) Some think the risk is so great we should attack the terrorist first, before they strike again, regardless of the cost to innocent lives.
5) But most people realized since 9-11 that monsters do exist and our future is both bleak and certain. The majority of us have come to grips with the reality that America will be attacked again and sometimes the "bad guys" will win and innocent people will die.
And since most people are now more aware that we live in a world with where others hate us, being aware of that threat makes us safer. America is the remaining superpower and since 9-11 we have demonstrated to the world our resolve to not be a "sitting duck" again. The government has taken actions that make it more difficult to attack us. Our public buildings, transportation and financial systems are more hardened. Some of these changes force trade-offs like:
> Our desire for world peace was replaced with greater fear of foreigners and isolationism,
> Some of our personal freedom was sacrificed for public safety,
> And our perception that we were loved was shattered by the harsh realities that we live in a world where we are no longer safe.
The post 9-11 world strained our relations with each other and with other governments. Some of our committed allies are now more closely aligned with our former enemies than with us. In the cold war, the superpowers both knew the rules - "you destroy us and we destroy you" - mutual annihilation. In the terrorist war, if terrorist should get their hands on nuclear technology, to whom does America retaliate?
Have you noticed that some governments are not in favor of tough United Nations sanctions against Iran's nuclear aspirations? Are they crazy? Don't they realize where Iran's sympathies lie?
Certainly they are not crazy or stupid. Since America can't retaliate against a stateless terrorist, enabling a terrorist friendly supplier like Iran makes is a perfect way to threaten us. The real monster isn't the terrorist; it's the governments that use terrorist fanaticism to eliminate our superpower advantage.
Are we safer knowing these monsters exist? Yes, we are safer as long as we continue to minimize our risks and remember 9-11.
Learn more about this author, Dave Nocera.
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Lucky
by Joseph Malek
Created on: September 12, 2007 Last Updated: August 18, 2008
There is no doubt in my mind that we have been extremely lucky not to have suffered additional attacks after the World Trade Center was destroyed and the Pentagon was damaged. You see, our borders still aren't safe from people who simply just walk into the territory of the United States of America.
As a matter of fact, from a distance, an Arab or a Mexican and/or Latino look just about the same. Then again, I wonder how many of the dozens of forest fires within our Country, that destroyed more than 2 million aces of trees, were man made or as a result of natural causes? Your guess is as good as mine.
Deadly products and contaminated foods are still getting into our Country. The latest that I know of are the hot peppers that killed a few people and made hundreds really sick. The FDA first blamed the tomato growers in the United States before they discovered that those imported hot peppers was the cause.
The fact is that sick people picked or otherwise hamdled that food product before it was sold to us. I wonder how many people in Mezico got sick after they ate those peppers?
Clearly, the Department of Homeland Security isn't doing the job that it was created to do. Neither is the Federal Drug Administration, the Department of Immigration and Naturalization and the Congress of the United States of America. Our Congress is supposed to allocate enough money for the funding of those very important branches of our Government but it is quite clear to me that isn't the case.
As a matter of fact, the members of the Congress of the United States of Anerica can't even stop the loss of our jobs to Foreigners within Foreign Countries. It seem to me that the majority of those people are nothing more than the bank-rolled "Yes People" of the owners and the controllers of those multinational corporations.
Maybe that is why the policies of the Republican Party have failed and continue to fail to serve the needs of the majority of "We People of the United States of America?
For your information, one of the suicide groups on 9/11 were in a plane that didn't take off on that day, and those Arabs escaped and left behind evidence that linked them to the attacks. Yes, that group of people is still at large within our Country.
Clearly, we have been lucky so far, but at the same time, tons of illegal, deadly, and additive drugs, thousands of illegal aliens, harmful products and poisoned food still arrive at our borders and get into our Country each day. From my point of view, that is despicable.
It is quite clear to me that we need a new batch of elected politicians who will be more responsive to the needs of the majority. Who will you vote for in 2008? More important, who will you vote out of Public Office in 2008?
Learn more about this author, Joseph Malek.
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