LIVING IN FEAR

As the wife of a man who has to travel by air fairly frequently for work, situations like the Detroit bombing attempt really put me on edge.  Not only did we narrowly miss a catastrophe on Christmas Day, but now it turns out that just yesterday there was a security breach at Newark Airport. 

A man was seen walking the wrong way past security screening to the 'sterile' boarding areas.  It caused much delay and the man has yet to be found.  Flights that had boarded were cleared and the passengers re-screened.  Needless to say it caused major delays.  Hopefully they will identify and locate the person soon.

It is amazing how one pair of C4 skivvies can do so much to set us back on our heels.  Where I once had a vague feeling of unease, I now am on red alert. 

Who knows if reports of more underwear bombers are true or not, but we know these crazies are nothing if not persistent, so I wouldn't be surprised.  But after Christmas Day, I just don't have the confidence in the security systems in place.  It's as if 9/11 never happened.  Why?

Bureaucracy, plain and simple.  There are so many chefs in that kitchen that it is standing room only. 

The problem with this bureaucracy is that lives hang in the balance.  Much like ObamaCare, actually.  But twice as frightening.

As someone once said, we have to get it right every time - they just have to get it right once.  We were incredibly lucky to have averted disaster due solely to weapons malfunctions.  They are working out the kinks, and the next time we might not be so lucky. 

Part of the problem lies with the Bush era Office of the Director of National Intelligence for not putting the puzzle together (even though it was like a wooden toddler puzzle), but a larger part resides with the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  The sheer number of missed opportunities to catch Abdulmutallab is staggering, and they all happened on Obama's watch.  Yes, the ODNI should have put the pieces together, but just one of the many instances where he slipped under the radar (or was completely ignored in the interest of fairness or some such idiotic politically correct claptrap) should have alerted at least one of the agencies to the danger.  But none of them were.

Do they just not get it?  The terrorists weren't attacking us because George W. Bush was president.  They are attacking us because America is the 'Great Satan'. 

They hate us because we are rich, we are free, and we are Israel's greatest ally.  It's time for the Obama administration to realize this and act accordingly.  Actually, they've done quite a lot recently, at least as far as making us less rich, less free and less of a friend to Israel, but those aren't the changes we need, and they don't seem to be doing much to garner goodwill with the terrorist factions out for American blood.

Mirandizing Abdulmutallab and trying to cut a deal with him to get information on potential bombers in the works is a joke.  He has 'lawyered up' and won't say a word, because he was taught how to work the system.  This man is an al Qaeda operative - he has acknowledged it and so has al Qaeda.  That makes him an enemy combatant - an enemy soldier attacking civilians.  A war criminal.   He should be tried as such before a military tribunal.  Al Qaeda has studied our civilian courts and know how to exploit them - they want us to try them civilly.  We are playing into their hands.

To those who use the 'Bush tried Richard 'Shoe Bomber' Reid, among others, civilly' argument, please just stop.  I'm so sick of this administration using this argument.  Didn't Obama run against everything Bush?  Wasn't the whole point of the 2008 election to illustrate how Bush did nothing right?  I find it appalling how they cherry pick things that he did to justify doing the same thing, while in the same breath talking about how horrible Bush was and how flawed his decision making was.  Which is it?  I personally didn't agree with trying Richard Reid civilly.  He was also an al Qaeda operative who tried to slaughter civilians and should have been tried by a military tribunal.  Just because he doesn't wear a uniform and didn't sign paperwork to join al Qaeda doesn't mean he isn't an enemy soldier.  This isn't World War II, where armies were massed against each other and certain rules of engagement were observed.  This is terrorism, the next step in guerrilla warfare.  It is war, they are soldiers, and our governement needs to acknowledge this.

And waterboard the jihadi right out of Abdulmutallab, too, while you're at it - if there's a chance he has information on future plots, we need to know right now. It's nice to know I'm not alone in my thinking on that particular point. 

Perhaps if more of our bureaucrats were forced to fly commercial, there would be more done to make it truly safe.

In the meantime, every time my husband boards a flight, I live in fear.  It seems to me the terrorists are more successful than we give them credit for.

LIVING IN FEAR