Posted on 09/12/2001 5:57:59 AM PDT by SES1066
I can make a simple flat statement here:
"You cannot make any motorized passenger travel completely safe from suicide-minded terrorists!"
These WTC Terrorists used knives, shaving supplies and box-cutters to attack/kill the stewardists in order to force the pilots to exit and defend THEIR PEOPLE! Can anybody think of any other action, under the known circumstances at that time, that the pilots would have done?
All Terrorists have the ability to strike at the time and place of THEIR choice and advantage. When they have no concern about their future survival, they have an almost complete freedom of action. Their sponsors want to force us to fear them and to worry about their future actions. IF, it is shown to be the work of Islamic Fundumentalists, NOT YET PROVEN, it is an effort to attack and destroy Western Civilization and its technology and democracy.
So we face a dilemma, our own freedom to use technology, transportation and democracy that form the backbone of our civilization, versus the Terrorists ability to attack us at the time and place of their choosing! We will now be facing stringent boarding procedures at the airports, probably increasing the already strangled process by multiple hours for individual travelers. This is a Terrorist Tax that will impact everyone and the cost will increase as it causes other businesses to pass on their increases. There are going to be new rules about pocket knoves and box cutters on airliners and so there goes another small bit of our freedoms - JUST WHAT THE TERRORISTS WANT!
THE QUESTION IS - Will this make us safer? There are numerous manuals on how to make deadly weapons out of innocuous household items. A clothes hanger can become a weapon and so does that mean that they will be forbidden on airplanes? The next attack could come from a hijacked Greyhound Bus, loaded with explosives, driven at an unguarded target like the Harvard Library or St.Patrick's Cathedral! These are attacks on our civilization, we are at war, and so we should steel ourselves against these attacks and NOT let us do these Terrorists job for them by slicing up our liberties for an extra sense of little security!
Ben Franklin said, "Those that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety!"
The U.S.A. must win the war on 'Drugs' and 'Oil'.
I think that I disagree here, IF IT IS ISLAMIC FUNDUMENTALISTS. They are attacking our civilization and culture, they don't care about our problems with drugs or oil other than that they are happy we are having problems. I agree that we would be stronger if we could put these 2 problems behind us, but we probably would have been attacked anyway.
Also we should perhaps return to having armed Sky Marshals on flights.
Agreed!
A real bonanza for lawyers in today's world I'm afraid, for obvious reasons!
Good points and they have validity. When I choose to go on an airliner, I choose to accept their rules.
I fear for the practicality of your 'solution'. We attack any country that has any inhabitant who is anti-US. Either we end up controlling all other countries or all become our enemies in self-defense.
If oil is used as a threat, consider that a terrorist act.
Yes
Same as "The Battle of Britain" - Their Finest Hour, but 1938 England was greatly changed to become 1946 England.
Then you're going to have to redesign the planes to include separate bathroom facilities for the cockpit crew. And the ability to prepare their own meals, instead of having them delivered by the "steward/esse/s".
I don't think the flight crews are going to go for it, terrorists or not. It would be easier to train the cockpit crews to be heartless SOBs that will sacrifice the lives of the rest of the crew and passengers on board before putting flying bombs in the hands of whatever terrorists might be on board.
Your arguments are logical but that means that the next hijacking will use a bottle of acid carried on as perfume! Hijackers will use common things to attack us.
IF this was religious fanaticism, it will be most difficult to overcome. I think that it will be a very long fight!
The best defense is to counter-attack at least three times a day.
Requires the political will to accept the inevitable fall out. Neither Bush-41 nor Clinton saw fit to accept this risk, I hope Bush-43 will.
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