Boy Scout Motto: Be Prepared!
I guess my biggest question / complaint is the whole concept of letting people know a threat is imminent. I mean we are on a High Alert for Terrorism. One step away from the Highest Alert possible.
The military has a great way to determine our War Status. Its called DEFCON. DEFCON 5 is where we are at peace. DEFCON 1 is all out Global Thermal Nuclear War. When there is a threat to the USA our military moves through the DEFCON stages which include diplomatic and milaristic solutions to resolve the issue.
Trying to explain this to the average American this whole color coded system of warning of terrorism is crazy. Right now we are at “Orange”. What the heck does orange mean? The next level is “Red” and the Previous warning is “Yellow”.
If our military or government tells me to be on High alert for terrorism I’m taking it seriously. BUT I AM NOT GOING TO STOP LIVING AND GOING TO WORK AND GOING ABOUT MY NORMAL ROUTINES! I am not going to be paranoid and duck tape all the windows and doors just because some “analyst” or “subject matter expert” on MSNBC says others are. Granted, I’m going to seriously think about how to handle a potential situation.
Personally, the way that I look at it is the only way to fight terrorism is to be vigilant about it. Try to stop any attack before it occurs. This can only happen if the average American is educated enough to know what the threats are, know that suspicious activities should be reported to the authorities and that who our “enemies” are.
So who are our enemies? This is the hardest part. There are so many individuals around the world that hate America, and American’s ideals of freedom, life, and liberty. Just because they hate our ideals doesn’t make them an enemy of America, there is room for people who disagree or atleast can live in peace and disagree on their ideals. Our enemies are those that are willing to kill or die for their cause at the expense of American lives. Right now the focused on group is Al Queda because of their ties to 9/11 and their outspoken hatred of America through Osama bin Laden.
Here’s the problem. Because in America you have certain freedoms. One of these freemdoms is to speak what you want and even speak against the government, its people or ideals. Freedom of speech even has its limits. You can’t yell “FIRE” in a crowded theater if there is no fire. Same goes for disagreeing with American ideals versus threatening American lives via terroristic threats.
So, how do you solve this whole thing? Frankly, I don’t know if there is a “solution” but I do know that America is a strong country. History has proven we are willing to fight for the protection of democracy, freedom and America. We can all work together to help root out those individuals or groups inside America that are working to try to disrupt our way of life. Look for anything suspicious. It was average American’s whould stopped Richard Reed from blowing up a plane via C4 in his shoes. I hope the apathy that the 80’s and 90’s showed where people stood idly by while crime occured is over. Let this decade be a decade of vigilence and awareness.
Stay alert, stay informed, be prepared, but do not stop living and going about doing what you do.