Got this in an e-mail...just thought I'd share with the group:

[QUOTE]After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which killed six and injured 1,000, President Clinton promised that those responsible would be hunted down and punished.

 

I would be hesitant to believe any claim that the US has spent more going after Microsoft than bin Laden without seeing figures ...

Just off the top of my head ... prior to 9/11
A million a pop for several cruise missles in 1998 ... hmmm, and what about all the ships / personel / support equipment required (what is the cost of an Aegis cruiser these days?)
The investigation of the previous WTC bombing (and other events you mentioned) leading to a pretty good understanding of those responsible for these crimes ... and conviction of some
I'm sure there's been a dedicated group at NSA and CIA for quite some time ... and then there's the satelites etc. that they require ...

 

Don't forget the absolute innefective responses to the following terrorist acts:

April 18, 1983 Bombing of U.S. Embassy in Beirut
Oct. 23, 1983 Bombing of Marine barracks in Beirut
March 16, 1984 CIA Station Chief William Buckley kidnapped
Sept. 20, 1984 Bombing of U.S. Embassy annex northeast of Beirut
June 14, 1985 Hijacking of TWA Flight 847

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sh...t/etc/cron.html

 

To answer your question truthfully! No! Complacency, procrastination, and stupidity all wrapped into one. Ignore it and it will just go away. As long as it's not happening on our soil it's not a big problem! That's what the military get paid for! That was the attitude for 8 years. This is exactly what caused this to happen. Judge for yourself, it's in the history books now. Remember liberty/freedom has a price and it is constant vigilance. You can't ignore your freedom.

 

It's generally accepted I think, that internal air flights in the U.S. had been sadly lacking in security by the standards of many other countries. Who though, would have anticipated an enemy fanatical enough to take their own lives and the lives of so many other people in the inhuman callous way that they did?

We know the rules now... there aren't any! With new security measures in force at airports you are unlikely to see a repeat of 'terrorism by passenger jet' but terrorism is the most difficult thing to protect against and one of the most difficult things to investigate and eradicate.

Constant vigilance as JRM said is now the name of the game.

 

I agree Cedric & JRM....I also think that the public needs to start being "aware" of what is going on around them. Maybe if we all pitch in, we can eliminate this disease.

 

Keep it clean and stay away from bashing Clinton? Most of your post is about how he didn't keep his promises. He was/is an idiot. We've been allowing this terrorism to escalate for the last 10 years. Is it coincidental that that's about the same amount of time he was in office? He had no nads. I'm glad to finally have a president that understands what is required to ensure the long term security of our country.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Strike
[B]We've been allowing this terrorism to escalate for the last 10 years.

 

As someone who was across the street from the WTC at the time of the attack (in the WFC), the only way this could have been avoided would have involved installing all planes with safety doors (similar to Air Israel's planes). . .

However, given the way most terrorist hi-jackings occur (i.e., hi-jackers take the plane and attempt to negotiate a list of demands), I don't think anyone could have done much to prevent this. . .

Remember, unlike most forms of violence suicide/terrorist attacks are the toughest to stop because the person committing the act isn't concerned with their own mortality. . . Hind sight is always 20/20, but reality isn't. . .

For as bad as things were/are we're fortunate that things weren't a lot worse. . . And believe me, for as terrible as it sounds, the attack on the WTC could have been much worse. . .

 

Lips, what is a community organizer? You end a 30 line diatribe against Clinton with "stay away from Clinton bashing"? Does the NO POLITICS policy not apply here? What's up? Charly.