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NSA inside the U.S., DIA the Army's version of a CIA / NSA clone, NCIS the Navy's version, ATF, Customs, DEA, FBI, and plenty of other agencies with similar jobs all competing with the other to identify threats. Imagine being a grunt with 10 people telling you where the threat is coming from. An 'Intelligence Czar' enter the fray. What is his job? To take all the information from all those groups and build an accurate picture of the threat for our President. Sorry, my cynical Texas nature tells me this guy was created to take the blame when another attack occurs. Adding a chief bureaucrat to an already bloated bureaucracy is dumb.

Solutions? First, make it clear to the American public they will need to decide between security and liberty. Increase one means decrease the other. Therefore, Americans must elect representatives who clearly state where they fall on this debate and vote your conscience. Second, adding bureaucracies to gather intelligence or provide security is wasteful. One skinny grunt with clear orders and the freedom to act is worth more than twenty analyst at Langley who can't decide on what to have for lunch. Third, recognize even if we do all the right things and continue to be vigilant that another attack will occur. Sure, more money, effort, and a strong resolve do make it tougher on a foe to attack but it can't prevent an attack. It's a simple as putting Marines on a perimeter. We will place weapons and men on the most likely threat axis since we don't have enough to cover every approach. We will man posts continuously with strict orders to be alert and vigilant. We will do everything thing we can to protect our fire-base. So what happens? The unexpected which is why its called that.

America has to face the same reality that parents face when children get older and go about their own lives. We can teach them, warn them, and pray for them but in the end only God knows what will happen. Best we can do is hope for the best and plan for the worst. Yes, that sucks but understand our world is a safe as we can make it based on economics, physics, and fate. September 11th reached out and grabbed us and in response we done better and worse about our security. We have made attacks from some quarters more difficult but nothing we do can prevent attacks all together. So I rely on advice from other combat Marines, "Look do the best you can to train and prepare yourself and your Marines, when something happens learn from it but rest assured something will happen."

Learn more about this author, T. M. Beeker.
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