Homeland Security or something similar to it
The new Obama Administration seems like a breath of fresh air after the past eight years of political follies and made up words. If you haven’t guessed by now, this issue is mostly political. However I wanted to offer something more than just, “Woohpee! A black man is president.” One thing that has recently startled me more than anything is that we had to invent a concept of homeland security.
The Homeland Security Department was created in 2002 , and it seems we never thought to protect our country before this. I hate to say it, but shame on every president that came before George W. Bush. We can shoot the balls off a squirrel with a smart bomb, but we can’t stop people at the borders and say, “Sir, do you or have you ever planned on blowing something up?” Give me a break, it never once occurred to the American government that something bad could happen without Homeland Security? I’m curious as to what we considered it prior to this. “Almost but not quite domestic security!” It didn’t exist because the only other time we have been attacked on our own soil was at Pearl Harbor and we figured that was just a one time fluke, right?
When Obama was speaking in front of the Senate on March 6, 2007, he said the following about Homeland Security and the mess in Iraq, “We are here to do the work that ensures no other family members have to lose a loved one to a terrorist who turns a plane into a missile, a terrorist who straps a bomb around her waist and climbs aboard a bus, a terrorist who figures out how to set off a dirty bomb in one of our cities.”
On the official whitehouse.gov website, the first thing on the agenda for Obama’s administration in the war on terror is to “Find, Disrupt, and Destroy Al Qaeda: Responsibly end the war in Iraq and focus on the right battlefield in Afghanistan.” Well, I’m glad that’s settled that we are finally going to start fighting on the right battlefield.
Another thing the war on terror reminds me of is the way it is openly referred to as the War in Iraq. It begs the question – are we fighting terrorists or are we fighting a country filled with terrorists? I’m not sure, but if we are fighting terrorists, then what about other countries? Surely Iraq and Afghanistan are not the only countries in the world that contain terrorists. You might recall some infamous American terrorists. Timothy McVeigh, a decorated war hero who was responsible for the deaths of 168 civilians in the Oklahoma City bombing. Theodore Kaczynski, also known as the “Unabomber” for mailing bombs to people, was a brilliant mathematician, but did not work for Al Qaeda. Let’s not forget Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the two students who went on a rampage through Columbine High School, leaving 13 dead and several others wounded. Are these not considered acts of terror? I wonder every day why we are worried about what is going on hundreds of thousands of miles away overseas when we may very well be growing terrorists in our own back yard. I guess only time will tell, but I believe strongly that all the terrorists in the world can’t possibly be living only in the Middle East.
On another note, if you are worried about wrongfully being accused as a terrorist or being put on a watch list, I think I may have a solution. Avoid unnecessary use of the words “bomb,” “hijack,” or “Jihad” in crowded or public places. If you generally like to wear a turban, leave it at home if you are planning to fly somewhere. Last but not least, don’t make strange phone calls to caves in the desert, this is dead giveaway to the Feds.
I hope now you better understand our system of homeland security or lack thereof. I only say these things because I care.
Short URL: http://www.themountaineer.org/?p=342
Posted by Ronnie Black
on Feb 11, 2009 Filed under First-Person.
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