The noise we are hearing, and we are being led to believe, about the use of civilian aircraft as weapons platforms, so to speak, is some kind of "surprise" and "new paradigm," is willfully disingenious. There is a good reason why civilian aircraft are restricted from "Restricted Area[s]" around military bases and various public institutions --- yes, because they might be in the use of our enemies.
"Gee, if we'd only known the exact building and date and time..." is just more of that same disingenious behavior.
That said, our mighty "Republican" Senatorial "leadership" and such "Republican" members of the House, should be using, item by item, the facts that you have gathered together, and so many other FRPR's have gathered together, that argue for, in my view, the completed Impeachment of William Jefferson Clinton in Absentia.
Bill Clinton should be removed from all honors and protection of the Office of the President, and his name stricken from all public artifacts.
The "land mines" left by his crew, John Podesta, et al, should be investigated and such Clinton crew members arrested and imprisoned.
Why?
Because you know, and I know, that this thing can get much worse, and it could get much worse because people are really not yet taking it all that serious.
With every assault within the U.S. --- such as the oil refineries that are being attacked by use of mortars in the back end of pickup trucks --- when these things get closer to home, there will more noise about "what Bush knew and when he knew it."
President Bush had better get honest with himself, such that he can not afford to appease the Senate Democrats by continuing the facade that somehow, basically, they must be on the side of fighting against terrorism.
They are not.
They are on the side of fighting against democratic-republicanism, in favor of socialism. What they say, should never be confused with being genuine opinion. They never tell anybody in public, what they really think. It is ENTIRELY meant for the public's consumption such that the public response will be to be a little more fearful and seek more government power to "do something about it."
That is, as re-interpreted by the Democrats, make government even larger.
George Bush has got to get off of that train wreck.
Condoleezza Rice had better go over everything that is her responsibility, and everything that is the Joint Chiefs' responsibility, and everything that is the D.C.I.'s responsibility, and everything that is the Ch. of the Federal Reserve's responsibility, etc., and find the booby-traps left by "Mr. Podesta."
Because somewhere in that pile of stuff, is the warning signs of how the terrorists will next drive fuel tanker trucks into some building somewhere, and the Bush Administration had better have been prepared to PREVENT IT, not just discussed to the most precise degree, how the "structure" PREVENTED THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION FROM DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
After all, the purpose of the federal government, is NOT the importance of its members, in our's, a free republic.
Truth and honor are paramount, if the people are to send their children to fight for all our freedom.
That includes, accepting responsibility for preparedness in all its areas, not just "intel."
Are we preparing? Are we seeing stories in the news about how armored car production has quadrupled, because we are in a war?
No.
Same problem for our aircraft industry, where if anything, it has been left to wither, when to the contrary, to produce the kind of machine tools and production equipment with which to produce greater numbers of aircraft, requires lead time that we should NOW be involved in that.
We are not.
The many glowing assumptions are not reality; "it ain't happenin'."
We should be planning for an emergency that requires 4 times the number of people we now have in uniform.
We need material for them, but it is not being produced.
We need material that we can expect to be lost.
Assessments for loss are not what they once were. We must not only account for enemy destruction of our transports by enemy fire, but also that squadrons and bases will be removed from service by "dirty nuclear" weapons and biological assaults.
We may, in order to proceed, have to very unhappily invade some country that we would otherwise not wish to at all, but we may need their facilities, such that we can set up a base from which to operate and then continue on to the rescue of some battalions that are suddenly stuck somewhere, but we have not been able to get to them, because 20 C-17 aircraft are out of the pattern, having been doused at Dover AFB.
Our vulnerability on the oceans is quite large, because our Navy is still somewhat asleep at the wheel, because nobody has actually yet given it its marching orders: Sink and Attack.
Instead, we are stopping and inspecting.
Makes an inviting target for a "trawler" hauling enough explosives to send a U.S. destroyer to the bottom.
Our Navy is expecting a missile attack, but the old methods still work (U.S.S. Cole).
The irony, there, is that in a certain area of defense, the Navy's expectation of a missile attack, is quite appropriate, but because it is so secretive, the numbers of tests of the system, have been reduced.
You know what they are worried about?
That a "coastal steamer" will launch cruise missiles up the river and hit Washington, D.C. There's a lot of work involved in preventing that.
The reasons for it being such a secret, are because of long-standing political disputes over the "construction of the anti-ballistic missile system."
On the surface, the Democrats have wanted the public to believe that such a system will "only provoke our enemies." While privately they pat on the back, the developers (thanks for protecting us, and BTW, it's good 'pork').
There's a tactical weakness in the system: the kind of RADAR that it requires, itself becomes a target.
So, we don't tell anybody about it.
I have walked all around that, here on this forum, hoping that some minds would figure it out but keep quiet.
That pretty much covers some areas, other than of course, the weaknesses around our airports, where you'd think that somebody would have put down in a PDB, the very fat opportunity for terrorists: just leap the fence around the airport perimeter.
Still, almost nobody is minding that store.
I dread hearing Condoleezza Rice explain that that anvil was also never dropped on the President's toes ... until the day, the time, and the place that it happens.
Gives new meaning to the words, "new paradigm."
The administration knows this, and is trying to get away with the same economic sleight-of-hand that devoured the savings of an entire generation back in the 70s with years of inflation. The Viet Nam war was paid for out of the savings accounts of little old widow ladies on fixed incomes.
This time it will be worse, since we won't be able to produce our way out of the fix we're in, having sold all our tools and having no Americans left who actually know how to design and build anything.