National Security

I think of this everyday...when I drive home from work I go past the skyscrapers. I remember going past those very same buildings when I was just a boy, saying "Daddy, Daddy! MY Downtown! MY Downtown!" Veiwing the Houston Skyline with wide eyes. I love this town. I love these buildings that have grown with me.

The sad thing is that they are all at risk. And the stupid ppl working in national security are going to let these buildings burn. They can't do a thing.

I was driving through downtown yesterday and thought how easy it would be to be a terrorist in America. Any 12 year old can make a bomb. But an unstable, scared member of a terrorist cell on American soil, could do so much more. Just look at what Timothy McVeigh did.
Thats what I see happening to "My Downtown". These terrorist arent getting anymore Airplanes, thats a fact. The American Spirit won't allow this to happen again.Too many People on the planes to over power them. Too much Airline security.

I havent heard ANYTHING concerning the sea ports. That a huge security hole. If our SEA PORTS, remain as unsecure as I am assuming they are, it will be basically be an invitation to these "Jihad Ma Chowdaa's". On another note....A few weeks ago in Galveston Tx...about 50 miles south of here...a merchant ship from Pakistan came in. Well, the captian had in custody a non identified stowaway.Who was here "To work with his family." When Galveston officials approached this individual, to interrogate, and deport, he over powered the PIGS and jumped off the side of the boat. Never to be seen again.

hmm well there is always a security flaw, in many forms they come. I guess some people have to learn their lessons the hard way.

Which remind me of a movie, Red October.
It was a sub that was virtually undetectable. The decoy plan was to go under the ports of New York or anywhere near and attack them unseen.. Though the original plan was to defect to the US govt. But still that gave me a thought. This attack could happen anytime.

Dr Toker -

3 Points

1) Just cause you don't know about the steps that are taken, doesn't mean that there aren't any. We (my profession) are working hard and in secret to secure this country. Afterall, if you know, then they know, and we have to start again!

2) If we had totaly security, then we would have no freedom. Its a delicate balancing act...

3) Instead of complaining how the "Gov't" isn't keeping you safe, why don't you Volunteer in your local community to help keep it safe? Join the Neighboorhood watch or the Police/Fire Auxilary or the Red Cross.

I can say we in DC need all the help we can get from the community!

You're quite right when you say that whoever wants to do harm will just find another way ... there is no such thing as perfect security.

Planes can be protected up to a point, ships can be protected up to a point, but you can never secure it all. After all, you can import the components of bombs one by one and then put it together in your backyard.

For economic purposes, you have to allow traffice close to buildings (unless you want the UPS guy to carry your goods the last 100 meters). That will thus leave a door open.

You can search a plane passenger's bag, you can scan his shoes, but he could still have a belt of explosives around him ... are you going to stripsearch everyone?

You can ban all foreign-looking people from coming into the US, but that would not have stopped McVeigh or the American taliban.

You can reduce risks by taking away the causes of people's anger, but you will never satisfy everyone ...

It's a sad situation, but there is no such thing as a totally safe world, unfortunately.

The world is a cruel place and there will always be innocents victims.

Cheers,

BrainStop

Damnit....its just sad to me. There is really nothing that can be done.

And jcmbc, good points. The Gov. I'm sure is conducting most of this war/homesecurity in secrecy.Which is the best idea. Is anything being done watching the Weapons of Mass Destruction? How are these weapons tracked? Don't they give off a radiation when not in a silo? I hope Washington is tracking these.

Dr Toker -

If you want to know about what we are doing and how I suggest you vist the Emergency Management Institute website (www.fema.gov/emi) and take some of the Independent Study classes. It won't answer all of your questions, but it will give you a framework about how we do what we do. They have two really good Nuclear/Radiological courses that I found really helpful.

Also your city/county Emergency Management Agency has public classes that you can take to learn more. And always consult your local public libray!

(Sorry for sounding like a bad PSA)

The government somehow let a big slip up happen on Sept. 11th. It will not happen again though that is for sure. Any and all security holes they've found I'm sure have been filled. Will there be more terrorism? I'm sure at some point some nut will pull something off. But it won't be as big, and I have a lot of faith in the United States government to keep any more attacks to a minimum. I think we're safer as a nation now then we were before Sept. 11th because they awoke the sleeping giant and we're now awake and pissed!

I know, Ahm ALWAYS pissy when i get a rude awakening.....
I wonder how long they were planning this. I mean it was so intracit.sp*
They had all this planned with most of the terrorists NOT KNOWING what they were doing,
with the exception of course of the Cell Leaders. Osama thought that was funny