Ipso facto isn’t proof, we went a long time before 9-11 without any hijackings, decades. So there’s no proof that whatever prevented the hijackings before then isn’t exactly what’s preventing them now. To prove these measures work you need ACTUAL hijackers ACTUALLY stopped by THESE RULES. Something that nobody is willing to stand up and say actually happened.
Those aren’t criteria that get you on the no fly list. Those criteria might get you on the terrorist watch list, but the no fly list seems to be basically random. Kennedy had issues because “T Kennedy” wound up on the list, “t kennedy who?” you might ask, just “T Kennedy” could be anybody, including apparently Edward Kennedy. That’s part of the problem with the list, it’s just names, not even full names, nobody knows why those names, nothing to distinguish them from other people with similar names, it’s seemingly random.
You continue to function under the lie from the government that people on the no fly list are terrorists. They ARE NOT, even if the original name put on the list was a terrorist they stop EVERYBODY with a similar name, look at this list of “controversial” people on the no fly list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Fly_List#False_positives_and_other_controversial_cases
these aren’t terrorists. These are senators, congressmen, kids, veterans, actors, people who visited the “wrong” country.
This isn’t a war though. Not anymore if it ever really was. Where’s the front? Who’s the enemy? What are the victory conditions? Who do we eventually negotiate the peace with? In a war you can answer those questions quickly and succinctly. The war on terror is much like the war on drugs, it’s a made up war that can never be won and exists solely to shred the Bill of Rights. Don’t let fear turn you into a moron, stop excuse mongering the destruction of your rights. The government is lying to you about these lists, how they’re made, how they work, and if they accomplish anything. The lists are junk, the don’t stop anything except freedom.
I would say there is a huge difference between the War on Drugs and the War on Terror. That being that terrorists have attacked the USA continually both here and abroad (embassy bombings, etc.) for more than two decades. 3000 people dying on 9/11 was a very war-like outcome.
If it's not a war, what do you suggest? We handle each terrorist attack as a police case? I think that's what Holder and Obama suggested we do with the Gitmo detainees, before they decided to pardon them in the faux prisoner exchange.