A few weeks ago there was a security meeting in Washington DC and they were going over the new security measure for DC and the US. They talked about all kinds of stuff. But a figure I remember them mentioning was that 7% of all shipping was now being investigated by US Customs, and there are now Customs agents working in over seas ports to better filter shipping coming into the US from places we red flag. There are still on going debates between the shipping companies and the government over security and business that needs to be decided. First off, the US requires that certain containers be checked and they require a 1 week notice before arriving at port. But security checks and other things tend to slow down the shipping business and time is money. They are trying to come up with ways to please the shipping companies and meet the security demands, not an easy task.

But there was good news, the DC Metro has just implemented a new system that will help to contain and detect biological/chemical/radioactive material and it has been tested and works excellent. It's being implemented in other major metro stations. The border problem is being worked on and improving every single day. But with as much that goes through our borders, small changes seem to do little to dent the problem we face. The main thing is we are improving our systems and making it more automated. So I wouldn't say we are losing anything. We have definetly made the US a safer country.

One of the major problems that was covered was the issue of bridges. There was a recent discovery that no one knew how many bridges were in the US, how many of them were in disrepair, and how many of them were prone to attack. I won't even mention the numbers on that because they're kind of disconcerting. The debate over that problem is that the states want federal money to repair them, but the government believes it's a state issue. Either way the problem needs to be fixed because they link major roadways and the destruction of a few bridges would be a major kink in our side.

This more has to do with security but it still is related to the war on terror/terrorism. If someone really wanted to kill a bunch of people it wouldn't be hard. Its not that hard to get something on an airplane, on accident I had a big ass pair of scissors in my bag yet they didn't get it. Another thing, why would you sell lighters inside the terminal? I know people smoke but if a group of people started a fire in their area of the plane their coule be trouble. Also, there are a **** load of soft targets such as malls. If terrorists were able to coordinate attacks on mall, lets just throw out 100 people dead per state(this wouldn't be too hard) that is 5k dead. Even worse would be if they attacked, hid, and then attacked again. The US couldn't handle it.

As a GIS (Geographic Information Systems) guy I'll tell you those satellites are next to useless in detecting guys like Osama Bin Laden. Only when they set up shop in Afghanistan was it useful. Once they go into a city or anywhere they blend in, the satellite is a nice piece of scrap metal floating around in space.
Signals interception is very tricky and hardly works now since Osama found out that his phone signals were being intercepted. Now it's all by courier.. which means whatever he does is significantly delayed and coordination is a problem... probably the single best reason why there hasn't been an attack so far.
You need spies.
And yes there is a war going on. Or else the guys I seen come back from Afghanistan with CIBs on their chests are just actors playing dressup. There is a lot of shooting and a lot of stuff they still can't tell us.
On your note on Bush winning the election, that had more to do with the home front than abroad. Most people voting Bush I think agreed that Iraq was not a smart move, but they felt that Kerry and his group were going to pretty much destroy Christianity in America. That's what won Bush the election.
So what they need is spies (aka HUMINT) because only they can detect changes in behavior patterns effectively. They can read people's faces, measure local activity of the local strong men... are they changing? etc. Is the Imam at the Mosque starting to sound different? etc. etc. etc.
So far, preventing Osama's attacks by crippling his communication and infrastructure and his business have done a great job. The only thing that needs to happen is Osama needs to be captured... it'll be a victory for morale and perhaps justice.

Originally Posted by Marksman

well i dont think that there is a "war" on terror at all,if there was,thye (USA,UK) would figure that they should use their sofisticated satelites and every other high-tec tools to find afgan(or any other) terrorists.By the state of the "war" now,i can only say that inicent ppl(irqi civilians and all troops present) are dieing,while big arse leaders are sitting and winning elections

I think we went a little too far with the crippling of his communications structure. When we destroyed all of the sat dishes in Afghanistan after 9/11 we destroyed our only links we had to monitoring Osama's messages. It only added to the problem later when he figured out that we were listening. The reason we keep getting Orange alerts and all that junk is because the NSA will detect an increase in chatter through SIGINT. If it wasn't for the fact that we destroyed those dishes we would probably be more accurate about some type of information.

HUMINT should have been the basis for intel a lot sooner. It was a huge part of intel during the Cold War. But with the public becoming so concerned over dead americans we pushed more towards satellites and other SIGINT.

Soft targets have always been a problem, but they don't have the same psychological impact as hitting the Golden Gate Bridge. Does anyone remember about that Pizza guy in the midwest who had a bomb strapped to his chest and claimed someone else had the controls? I doubt anyone remembers what has come of it. Point being, it was a soft target that made the national news, but barely did anything to dent the American psyche. Terrorists realize this which is why they would rather "go big or go home," as we kama'aina would say. Small attacks with car bombs and blowing up a McDonalds would definetly be a tragedy, but we'd forget about it ever happening within a week. I guess that's one thing that counts towards the US "I don't care about anything except me" attitude. Sometimes we're so self absorbed we could care less.

Before we talk about how to handle terrorism and how the situation goes, why don't we discuss the reason why the Islam extremist rise up the terrorism?

I believe the reason it rise up such things still comes mainly becoz of the oil, my brother talked to an Middle east guy before, that guy told my bro that the western world exploited them by taking our the authority of oil from them. So I see the rerrorism is built to get the western people out from persecuting them. Agree?Agree?Agree?

So, in my opinion, best way to stop the terrorism up is stop exploiting them by geting the oil form them in Middle east area.

Also, I would like to condemm USA for they r not really declare this war for peace, but for they own good. Becoz during 2-3 years ago it happened to a Africa nation conflict (Racial discrimination If I am not mistaken). And yet USA did not give any help but still remain their TERRORISM WAR AND WANTED TO ATTACK IRAQ.

Originally Posted by Ezechiel

Before we talk about how to handle terrorism and how the situation goes, why don't we discuss the reason why the Islam extremist rise up the terrorism?

I believe the reason it rise up such things still comes mainly becoz of the oil, my brother talked to an Middle east guy before, that guy told my bro that the western world exploited them by taking our the authority of oil from them. So I see the rerrorism is built to get the western people out from persecuting them. Agree?Agree?Agree?

So, in my opinion, best way to stop the terrorism up is stop exploiting them by geting the oil form them in Middle east area.

Also, I would like to condemm USA for they r not really declare this war for peace, but for they own good. Becoz during 2-3 years ago it happened to a Africa nation conflict (Racial discrimination If I am not mistaken). And yet USA did not give any help but still remain their TERRORISM WAR AND WANTED TO ATTACK IRAQ.

Alright, we'll do that, we don't buy anymore middle-east oil.

That'll make their economies really happy.

Originally Posted by Chocobo_Blitzer

Alright, we'll do that, we don't buy anymore middle-east oil.

That'll make their economies really happy.

They already very happy now, becoz most of the profits goes into the pocket of the American and they get nothing. That's why they were angry, morever American went to support Israel this even worse.

U don't buy it others will buy it. And American surely need it. For today many of the American oil company deployed in Middle East and got the oil soil.

My point is that the Local Middle East citizen should have got even more from their own resources. But the westerners came and got all those resources away. This make them very poor. So what's the different between U DON'T BUY with CONQUERING PPL'S OIL?

Majority of the Middle East countries today r still poor. Don't think the local civilians really get economic benefits from their own oil resource.

Ezechiel, we had a long discussion on the many different aspects as to the origins of Islamic terror. Check out this thread. We went through everything from religious zealots to sykes-picot.

I think we are definetely fighting a losing battle. There was absolutely no point in invading Iraq this time. George bush and his administration should get their priorities straight. They are way too greedy and power hungry.

Anyways all the conflicts going on the United States army is just making the conflicts even more serious by getting the people causing it mad for interfering with their own situations.

Ah well all the better when hes gone in 4 years. 4 years we can't afford.

Oh please...

Do we really need anymore one-sided left wing propaganda here on this board.

They are way too greedy and power hungry.

Give me a break!