I think this is an excellent point. We Americans have long taken our security for
granted. It is a very sad day
indeed that we now have this wake-up call which forces us to think about how
vulnerable we can be.
In the process of doing this, I simply ask (since I have seen hints of this in a
couple postings now) that we focus
on those who have lost their lives and the family members who have been left behind.
Do not start thinking about
those who may have "failed" at their job just yet.
As someone who worked at the CIA for over six years and who worked on the Bin Ladin
topic for more than half of
that time, I can personally attest that the American public has no idea, no idea of
the amount of effort that goes
into combatting terrorism. Please just trust me when I tell you that you do not know
of all the times the
Intelligence Community has saved lives both here and overseas. Please just trust me
when I tell you that you have
celebrated holidays in peace, thanks to a few select people. Many attacks have been
stopped that you don't know
that, that you will never about. Unfortunately, this one is not one of them. And
that is very sad. But that
doesn't necessarily mean that someone did not do his/her job. Despite the size of the
UBL and other terrorist
groups, within many of them only a very, very small number of individuals are privy to
the intricacies of the
terrorist plots. Oftentimes, the "suicide bombers" and other such "grunt" people do
not even know what is
happening until moments before. It is impossible for the American or any other
government to know everything that
is going to happen. It is impossible for the FAA and airport officials to catch
everything.
I have traveled to Israel and have flown into and out of Tel Aviv. It took me nearly
three hours to get out of
that airport. And that was with a diplomatic passport. It takes the average traveler
5-6 hours just to get out of
that country. Would you really want that happening here? Would you really be a happy
person each time you were
subject to that in the United States? My guess is no. Would the American public be
content with hiring hundreds
or thousands of more government employees to work on this topic? Again, my thought
would be no. As a former
government worker, I heard all the disparaging thoughts the non-government workers had
for us. Whenever
"non-essential" employees are sent home for bad weather or fiscal problems, people
often snort and say "Aren't they
all non-essential?" It's oftentimes only in times like this when we think we should
be doing more. Everything is
a trade-off. We can't do it all. Furthermore, I have personally seen the hate of the
terrorist mindset up close
and it is a very disturbing image. How can we every day combat such powerfully
emotional rage successfully?
I hope I did not rile anyone's feathers, that was not my intent. I am simply hoping
to keep everyone focused on
what really matters right now -- the victims and their families/friends. Wait until
more facts roll in before
pointing fingers. Thanks.
Kamie
"Sicular, Alexander" wrote:
> All I want to point out is that Israel has been living this nightmare for a
> long time. Israel is the USA's greatest ally in this horrible time. I have
> many friends in the IDF (Israel Defense Force) and they all know that the
> USA is nowhere near prepared for this type of conflict. Additionally, EL AL
> - the national airline of Israel, is protected like gold. Protected better
> then a fathers daughter. We have all flown domestically and we know the
> total lack of security. God have mercy on those that attack the freedom and
> democracy of the world.
>
> By the way, I live in Manhattan and have friends who live and work in the
> downtown area.
>
> -alex
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paris Lundis [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 2:11 PM
> To: CF-Talk
> Subject: attacks
>
> has anyone noted that this represents a great number of air related
> incidents arond DC.. DC where there is a no fly zone.. and where
> surface to sky ad portable missiles are available for such stuff??
>
> The FAA needs to track more and better... inter and intra departmental
> communications needs improved.
>
> Boston Airport needs closed for a month and everyone fired.
>
> People need to be held accountable. We need dedicated people and more
> communications. All of this could have been minimized.
>
> I wish everyone the best in their quest to find loved ones today.
>
> [finding the future in the past, passing the future in the present]
> [connecting people, places and things]
>
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