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fear

 
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I have very mixed feelings about the attack on Afghanistan. Justice and revenge are too complex and unrewarding for me to even think about. But I am afraid.
I am afraid because the Homeland Defense guy from Pennsylvania hasn't even been sworn in yet. We are so unprepared to fight against terrorists. Not so much chem/bio stuff, which is expensive and difficult to do on a nationwide scale, but the pipe bombs in the mall, automatic weapons in the football stadium kind of warfare that doesn't take much direct state sponsorship. Suggestions of reasonable precautions are met with cries of - that would show fear, and that's what they want us to do! Maybe somewhat, but that's no excuse for not protecting ourselves. The main thing we need is concrete barriers to prevent against truck bombs in large buildings, schools, malls, stadiums, etc. (Beyond airport security which is somebody else's rant.)
I am afraid that there is no military objective to this "war." Bin Laden, just like Hussein, is not worth taking out(from a military objective point of view) because there are a dozen others behind him who aren't much different. We can't bomb Afganistan into rubble, because it already is rubble. We aren't going to eliminate terrorism - we can't even define it, except conceptually. We aren't going to eliminate hatred of the United States, its culture and its policies, either. Military forces are designed to fight against other military forces, and there isn't an opposing military force here. So what exactly, on a physical level,(not justice or punishment)are our forces trying to do? Take over Afghanistan? Is that a quagmire or what?
I am also afraid that our country has taken a huge step backwards in judging people by their looks. I read an editorial that said an airport security guard wasn't doing his job if he didn't thoroughly inspect, interrogate, detain and harass every swarthy man that came by. What a shame. If Bin Laden isn't an idiot, (and he has made money)he will hire blondes for the next go.
I am afraid that civil rights will get trampled. Most of these terrorists do very little that's illegal until the big day, so how can you arrest them beforehand? Is it illegal to sit at the end of a runway and watch the planes take off? Is joining certain groups or reading certain books going to put you on the surveillance list? Or is it only if you are "swarthy"? What is a "link" to terrorism? What if somebody has video showing that I was in a Starbucks with known terrorists? Can I be locked up? or just interrogated and abused until I lose my job and my life becomes hell? McCarthyism is group dynamics at its worst, and I am afraid of it.
(and for the fbi nerds with their monitoring software, I don't even drink coffee, so relax and look up hypothetical)
I am afraid that the financial success I built in the last two years will ebb away (I know, spoken like a true American!). But I wanted my daughter to grow up without war.
On the other hand, I always wanted to be a flower child and there were some great tunes about 1,2,3, what are we fighting for?
Thanks for reading, back to work!
Annie
 
mister krabs
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Originally posted by Annie Weaver comes back:
I have If Bin Laden isn't an idiot, (and he has made money)he will hire blondes for the next go.

And how exactly do you hire suicide bombers? And how do you get them to Afghanistan to train them?
I think you are mistken about bin Laden. He is a cult leader and cult leaders aren't easily replaced. Think of David Koresh, Jim Jones, or Charles Manson. Did their organizations continue without them? In any case, I have a feeling that not too many people are going to want to jump into bin Laden's shoes.
 
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and just how many blond fanatical muslims are there in the world today? i cannot think of any... (not meant to be an insult). besides, bin laden is only muslim in his mind... he does not practice the true teachings.
don't be so freaking paranoid about this... war sucks, yes, but you cannot live your life in fear. i have been in the gulf during hostile times and my ship was threatened by bin laden 3 different times.
i stood guard at a naval base in Jordan when bin laden threatened us and the highest ranking military officer in the middle east came to my ship... if something was going to happen to us, it would have happened that night. was i scared? yes... prior to my watch. but, when i got to the gate and checked my weapon, i forgot about the fear and just did my job.
you have to put the fear aside for now... deal with the problem and worry about the emotions when it is over.
 
Sheriff
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Annie,
Your fears are legitimate ones, and we all need to come to terms with our individual fears in order to move on.
There is nothing we can do to totaly harden our country against another attack. We have an open society and this is simply one of the risks we take. Where I am however, there are many noticeable signs of increased security measures all over the region. We have to hope that our law enforcement and intelligence operations are sufficient to minimize the chances of a repeat to Sep-11, but this is probably unlikely. I think we have to resolve ourselves to further attacks and that's all there is to it. It will be up to each and every citizen to remain vigilant and maybe we can stop some of these attacks before they begin.
This isn't simply a military operation, but there are many military objectives. The objective of the entire operation is actually one of self-defense as I see it. It is us or them and this is a battle for the survival of our way of life. Our military is able to perform many varied types of operations though, so I wouldn't worry about our military not being able to handle its mission. And while we cannot eliminate terrorism, or hatred for the United States, what we can do is make sure that suppoerters of terrorism know that there is an awful price to pay for initiating action against us.
I understand your fears about this affecting your financial success, but we may all be forced to make certain sacrifices while we fight for our survival. I do think that all the hard work you've done to get you where you are today though constitues part of the American way of life and that is one of the things we are out to defend. As for your daughter growing up without war, that is what we all want, however there are people in the world who not want your daughter to grow up in a dangerous hostile world, but actually have stated their desires to kill Americans of any age wherever they may be. So this conflict is for your daughter's future as well.
The only alternative to action is inaction. Inaction would be even more deadly than action. We cannot ignore these people and hope they go away. These people who perpetrate and support these actions do not think like us, they do not hold the same values that we do. They can only be negotiated with at the barrel of a gun, because that is the only thing they respect. Some may suggest we simply give in to their irrational demands, but that will not only go against everything that we stand for, but will also make the world a far more dangerous place. We can't rent our security and safety, we have to fight and die for it.
 
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Greg,
I don't think you have to be "freaking paranoid" to experience some fear right now. I for one can certainly relate to Annie's emotions.
 
Greg Harris
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sorry, i guess that was a little harsh... that is the way i deal with tough situations. you have to take care of the problem first, then take care of your emotions. if you let your emotions get in the way first, you will screw-up.
(i am still in the Navy reserve, so i have to put my emotions aside for now)
 
Rosie Vogel
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Originally posted by Greg Harris:

if you let your emotions get in the way first, you will screw-up.


Well, I certainly agree that you shouldn't let your emotions control you. Once we do that, the terrorists have already won. But personally, I like to talk about my fears, it stops them from getting out of hand. I know I'd make a terrible soldier
 
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