Just got a chance to catch up on current affairs after several days of being busy with business. One thing that appears to be prominent is a warning from a 'major" anti-terrorist 'official" that Al Qaeda or another terrorist group has operatives in the US and are planning a major attack this summer. The part about terrorist being in the country does not surprise me much because I do not think that all who were here to kill us before the 9/11/2001 attacks have been identified and captured or put on the run. While this acknowlegement causes me despair from a philosophical and tactical perspective, the patience, adaptability and discipline that some terrorists organizations display allows me to understand how a population of operatives can remain in this country undetected, eventhough efforts are being made to uncover them. What does surprise me is that terrorists can expect to carryout a major attack without some, most or all of it being unmasked and stopped. The country has devoted major resources toward preventing terror attacks of the magnitude of 9/11 from happening again. I hope that all planned attacks are prevented, but if one happens of a magnitude that is even close to what happened on 9/11/2001, then there will probaly be a major shift in how people in the US view their well being and that shift will almost surely result in a more restrictive society than US citizens have ever been accustomed to, at least over the short term. Some of the changes will not necessarily be bad, but the majority probaly will be because they would have been formulated during a state of panic and reaction and not during one of analysis, foresight and planning. Each person makes their own decsions, but as far as I am concerned, I will not allow the news that I heard today prevent me from travelling for personal or business reasons or even from attending major events. When people stop living out of fear, then terrorists have already won one major battle in the struggle that is being waged between them and the civilized world.
If there are Al Qaeda cells in this country and they are capable of launching another terrorist strike you should remember that a very large number of the first responders that we would need aren't here. They are in Iraq. About 40% of our forces in Iraq consist of National Guard and Reserves and a significant proportion of those guys are firemen or policemen.
Actually, I don't think Bush is worried about another terrorist strike here. There are a number of chemical plants that could produce a disaster similar to the Union Carbide disaster in Bhopal in 1984 (or worse). When the chemical companies complained that it would cost them money to harden these targets the Bush adminstration told them not to bother. Doesn't sound to me like Bush is very worried.
A relative of mine is on a port commission here in California. He complains that the Federal Government told them they should increase port security but didn't provide any money to do it with. Again it doesn't sound to me like Bush is very worried. (Has anyone noticed that Bush actually looks like Alfred E. Neuman, "What, me worry?" of Mad magazine fame?)
continue to travel, etc. and not terrorism get the best of me. As to potential responses to another major terrorist attack, yes, we will likely give up some freedoms in the short-run to "tighten up the ship." Remember, a pendulum doesn't stop in the middle, but let's hope that, in the response to another tragedy, we don't go overboard. One of the classic cases of going overdoing it was Marcos in the Philippines, who was originally elected to lessen crime in Manila. He instituted martial law and, well, you know the rest. A classic case of not overdoing it was right here in New York with Rudy Giuliani, who before 9/11 was being raked over the coals by Democrats as being too authoritarian and devisive. They were, of course, incredibly jealous because Giuliani did what they couldn't - make New York City safe, secure and economically viable to an unbelieveable degree. He sure as hell made a difference in my area, which is almost devoid of crime today. Indeed, NY now ranks 211 out of the 230 largest cities in America in crime! I really didn't think this was possible before Giuliani, and I'd vote for him in a nanosecond if he decides to run for public office again. He was one of the very, very few politicians who got something done, and he did it quickly too.
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