Don has a question we all should be asking? Has terrorism won?
So what is the state doing spending millions on security? No one has every attacked the building, but efforts are on-going tio keep the people out of their own building.
The TSA, Homeland Security, The Patriot Act… The question easily expands to include our country as a whole.
I offer no answers, I’m just a bit personally surprised I hadn’t already acknowledged the question seriously.
All the billions spent, all the rights abridged… is a negative somehow a positive?
Has it worked? No. Because defense is not proactive, whoever has the “initiative” is the one that will win. With terrorists they mostly have to show that they CAN attack America at will, but so far have lacked the imagination to really understand their target.
America in its wars has failed to answer central questions, and frame the warfare in a way that will make sense to our enemies. We keep saying “this is not about religion, this is not about religion” but for one side it is. We fail to use propoganda, as our enemies do, oftentimes being reactive to any “scandal” that comes out. Abu Graib was not NEARLY as bad as what they do. Haditha? what is that compared to blowing up marketplaces on a regular basis. We let our enemies define the conflict, when If we took the initiative in the information war, and made it clear that this was about allowing the “religion of peace” time and a buffer to reform itself, in effect marginalizing the folks using terror. . . well that would go a long way.
also the failure to come up with an energy policy that would completly negate any advantage OPEC (most of whom DON’T like us) has left it so 9 times out of 10 our hands are tied. When we SHOULD act, we simply can’t.
Bottom line. . . despite moderate success in Iraq, and limited success in Afghanistan. . . we’re not winning at all
Doc Bailey #1: I personally agree, but opted to truncated my post. I’m convinced the over-all lack of a full-tilt offensive will bite us on the ass… but my VA docs say I’m paranoid. [grin]
Terrorism hasn’t won, though not for lack of trying.
Terrorism has stolen a march on us. Crossing in territory such as South and Central America, and wherever life is cheap, terrorists gain access to America while we focus on the outrages of state-sponsored pedophilia in airports.
Americans are their own worst enemy.