So how much safer are we now ??

[Charlie P]

1. Mexican and Canadian borders are wide open.
2. Ports are also a huge problem.
3. Airport security has been broken down more then once since 9/11.
4. Anyone could drop just about anything in a major water supply.
5. Nuke Plants? How hard would it be for let's say 40 well armed Terroists to gain access.
6.Electrical grids some thing tells me after what happened in the NE last summer these could be an easy target.

So are we really safer now?

[Muddyemms]

7. List the number of al Qaida cells that have been broken up due to the Patriot Act. (Seven.)

8. Name any attacks that have gone on in the United States, linked to al Qaida, since 9/11/01. (Zero.)

[Aught Six]

1. Mexican and Canadian borders are wide open.
2. Ports are also a huge problem.
3. Airport security has been broken down more then once since 9/11.
4. Anyone could drop just about anything in a major water supply.
5. Nuke Plants? How hard would it be for let's say 40 well armed Terroists to gain access.
6.Electrical grids some thing tells me after what happened in the NE last summer these could be an easy target.

So are we really safer now?

These have always been security weaknesses and will continue to be. The difference now is that we've severly disrupted the leadership of al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Sure, they can coordinate murders on the run, but training new recruits and managing large-scale attacks is much more difficult today.

In addition, Americans are much more conscious of our vulnerabilities; for this reason it's more difficult for a terrorist to lurk in the shadows. If we are attacked, our responders are better trained and better equipped to minimize casaulties and maintain order.

Our intelligence-gathering capabilities, while far from foolproof, are also improved. It will be a lot harder for them to hit us on our own land, and so the fight has moved to locations where the terrorists feel more comfortable.

[JagMagMan]

By the very nature of terrorism, it is hard to tell how much we have accomplished. Have we stopped one attack? A dozen? Who knows for sure! We do know for sure that there have been zero attacks in the US!
The security issues you've brought up will always be the problem areas!
I agree with '06, we have made it very hard for terrorists to recruit and train. Keeping them on the run and off balance, is the best defense that we have right now, and it is buying time while we root out their leaders and address some of these security concerns!

[DaveH]

While some of those statements are partly true, all of them are much more secure than they were before--it just isn't being reported. Part of that is because the liberal media doesn't WANT you to think we're safer because it doesn't fit their agenda to remove President Bush from office.

Additionally, those of us that work in the security/law enforcement field are doing things behind the scenes that we aren't telling the public about. We don't wish to scare the citizens by reporting the worst case scenarios AND the element of surprise is often a good ally when the enemy thinks you're asleep at the wheel.

The third big problem is personnel and $$$. There isn't enough to cover every possible incident. There's a HUGE amount of intelligence--always has been. But you can't be everywhere all the time.

[Coastie]

And how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood? There is no answer to your question, the unfathomables are too complex to even begin to guess what could have been but was not due to added security precautions and our actions in the middle east and elsewhere.

[DaveH]

One more thing . . .

I hear people say that they don't understand why we sometimes raise the alert levels since "nothing ever happens then anyway." DUH!!!

Just imagine what COULD HAVE happened if the levels had not been elevated. I don't expect for this country to never experience another terrorist attack--like I said you can't be everywhere at once and cover all possible scenarios because there's way too many possibilities. However, as Muddyemms already noted, there have been NONE...ZERO...NADA since 9/11. Since we all know that al Qaeda desperately wants to attack us with-in our borders again, we've been doing OK so far. It's true, much more needs to be done, but we've come a long way.

[Ezzy333]

Charlie P is Bush tried to close the borders you and your friends would be the first ones to complain about your rights being taken away.

Safety comes with a price and many times it is your reduced freedoms.

Ezzy

[PABuck_HNTR]

3. Airport security has been broken down more then once since 9/11.
4. Anyone could drop just about anything in a major water supply.
5. Nuke Plants? How hard would it be for let's say 40 well armed Terroists to gain access.
6.Electrical grids some thing tells me after what happened in the NE last summer these could be an easy target.

So are we really safer now?

CharlieP.....Why don't you try to execute one of those things you listed , and we'll find out how much safer we are. I think you'll be surprised by what you'd find.

[strut]

I guess we are alot safer now than we was Sept 10, 2001 and the last several years prior to that. One thing for sure, if some terrorist does something to us or our country they know they will pay dearly, Thanks to W, to where before all they got was a slap on the wrist if even that.

Charlie, a question for you, with just the info you know about and say you were a terrorist would you feel pretty comfortable being in the US and confident you could pull some major atrocite off better now or back in the 90's? Hummm.