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3 years ago
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
How safe are we?
The cloud of terroism is still very much darkening our American skies. Al-queda terroists have said they are targeting our subway systems in New York. Mumbai, India gunman singled out British and American tourists killing at least 78 people. Is it ever going to feel safe in America? I think we all know that after 9/11 the whole semblence of safety shifted. I do think that in my lifetime, things will never truly feel safe. In a world that has overcome so many biases when will we become unbiased against things like religion? Meanwhile, there are pirates on the seas taking over any ships that might happen to cross their paths. Is this world we live in now any more dangerous than the world 50 years ago? Or is it that the information of these problems is more readily available? I cannot help but feel that our nation is a target; therefore, all citizens and our allies are now targets also. What are the solutions for the future? I have no idea. I can only hope that our salvation lies in the fact; that we are a nation made up of many different kinds of people and beliefs. The war with fear-mongers will continue. I just hope that we don't give up all of our rights as free citizens because of the fear. "The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself"-Franklin D. Roosevelt
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I have worried about another terrorist attack happening here in the U.S. or overseas. What will the terrorists do next? They have gotten more and more sophisticated while the authorities have not seemed to keep up – as in Mumbai. It has been reported that the police there were vastly out gunned by the terrorists. Also 9/11 was not the first time that terrorist activity has graced our shores, domestic terrorist attacked on April 19, 1995 with the bombing of the Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City. Details came out after that, the perpetrators had visited several federal buildings in different cities in deciding which one to bomb. At the time I was living in Des Moines, IA which was one on the list and I worked near it. Then we have all the work place, shopping and school shootings all perpetrated by people carrying out their own little forms of ‘jihad’ not to mention drunk drivers on the road that could run you over. So are we ever really safe getting out of bed in the morning? (I won’t mention planes falling out of the sky onto your house now…)
In a post 9/11 U.S. it does seem that we have let our civil rights slip away some, just so that we will feel safer. The Patriot Act gives the government sweeping powers to fight terrorism but many of the provisions run counter to the Constitution. Things like innocence until proven guilty, limits on government’s power of search and seizer of property and separation of powers ect. Back in August 2003 the Bush administration released a report that detailed civil rights abuses committed in the implementation of the Patriot Act which got a lot of press coverage but at the time got very little public discussion. Although now I do hear more of a discussion and it seems that we as a nation are waking up and seeing that our fear might have been used against us in order to distract us from other things going on.
I agree with Lawrence in the hope that we do not give up our rights because of fear. We need to be vigilant because I can see that before 9/11 we had let our guard down but I think in some ways the pendulum has swept back to far the other way. "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
I agree that yes America is indeed unsafe but then again 9/11 happened back in 2001. There were approx. least 2,985 people died in the September 11th attacks, no one really thinks about all the fatalities that occur everyday over 6,000 teen drivers are killed in car accidents every year. Thats three 9/11's. The 5,000 18-wheeler accidents affiliated with fatalities. Thats two 9/11's. There are6,420,000 auto accidents in the United States in 2005. In cause of DRUNK drivers. 2.9 million people were injured and 42,636 people killed. About 115 people die every day in vehicle crashes in the United States -- one death every 13 minutes.
I don't know about you, but i have more FEAR and foreboding when getting on i-35 everyday.
Or what about from January 1982 to March 2001, a period of 19.25 years, there were a total of 8,109,000,000 passenger enplanements. During that same time period, there were 2,301 fatalities (120 people killed on average each year), and 348 serious injuries. This amounts to a 0.00003% chance of being seriously injured or killed in a commercial aviation accident.
And what about the estimated 15,517 murders in 2000 in the U.S.
How many 9/11's are that? Hmmm... of course our country is unsafe! But I would be more paranoid about dying in a car accident or a plane crash then a terrorist attack!
Lawrence, I specifically remember after the 9/11 attacks how Americans were facing such a grime reality that another attack could happen anywhere again soon. And every since that horrific day in our history, I do think that many of us have forgotten that an attack could possibly happen again on our soil. The most recent attack on innocent civilians in Mumbai really reminded me that an attack can happen anywhere. These terrorist do not discriminate and will take anyone’s life. Life is definitely not valued by these violent extremist.
Are we safe yet? I do think that we are safer than before September 11, 2001. But I do think the threat is much greater. It is great to know that I have so many fellow Americans that will stand by my side and such a great Military force that I can count on. It is unfortunate that terrorism will continue on and many other generations will have to face this problem. I will not allow the possibility of another terrorist attack to determine how I will live my life. Life is to short to live in fear.
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