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| Home Front: Politix |
| Rebuild the Nation to Make It Terrorist-Proof |
| 2008-02-28 |
| America the Resilient Defying Terrorism and Mitigating Natural Disasters Summary: A climate of fear and a sense of powerlessness caused by the threats of terrorism and natural disasters are undermining American ideals and fueling political demagoguery. Rebuilding the resilience of American society is the way to reverse this and respond to today's challenges. STEPHEN E. FLYNN is Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of The Edge of Disaster: Rebuilding a Resilient Nation (Random House, 2007), from which this essay is drawn. When it comes to managing the hazards of the twenty-first century, it is reckless to relegate the American public to the sidelines. During the Cold War, the threat of nuclear weapons placed the fate of millions in the hands of a few. But responding to today's challenges, the threats of terrorism and natural disasters, requires the broad engagement of civil society. The terrorists' chosen battlegrounds are likely to be occupied by civilians, not soldiers. And more than the loss of innocent lives is at stake: a climate of fear and a sense of powerlessness in the face of adversity are undermining faith in American ideals and fueling political demagoguery. Sustaining the United States' global leadership and economic competitiveness ultimately depends on bolstering the resilience of its society. Periodically, things will go badly wrong. The United States must be prepared to minimize the consequences of those eventualities and bounce back quickly. Good news for us civil engineers - The United States' aging infrastructure compounds the risk of destruction and disruption. One of the rationales for building the interstate highway system was to support the evacuation of major cities if the Cold War turned hot; in 2006, the year the system turned 50, Americans spent a total of 3.5 billion hours stuck in traffic. Public works departments construct "temporary" patches for dams, leaving Americans who live downstream one major storm away from having water pouring into their living rooms. Bridges are outfitted with the civil engineering equivalent of diapers. Like the occupants of a grand old mansion who elect not to do any upkeep, Americans have been neglecting the infrastructure that supports a modern society. In 2005, after a review of hundreds of studies and reports and a survey of more than 2,000 engineers, the American Society of Civil Engineers issued a scathing report card on 15 categories of infrastructure: the national power grid, dams, canal locks, and seven other infrastructure sectors received Ds; the best grade, a C+, went to bridges, and even in that case, 160,570 bridges, out of a total of 590,750, were rated structurally deficient or functionally obsolete. More good news, for Bush Haters. These downward trends in preparedness and infrastructural integrity could be reversed by stepped-up investment and more effective leadership. Unfortunately, Washington has been leading the nation in the opposite direction. Since September 11, 2001, the White House has failed to draw on the legacy of American grit, volunteerism, and ingenuity in the face of adversity Whole (unreviewed) essay at link. I just cherry-picked some juicy bits. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #5 FOX NEWS > *LAURA INGRAHAM - OBAMA is "MR. GLOBAL DIVERSITY". * MORT KONDRACHE > reminds that the US is spending only 2% of its GDP on the WOT. *FRED BARNES + KRAUTHAMMER > both roughly agree that, regardless of rhetoric, any POTUS MCCAIN or POTUS OBAMA/CLINTON will likely INCREASE US POST-2008 SPENDING LEVELS AS PER THE ME. Again, RADICAL ISLAM > priority right now should be to STOP US ENTRENCHMENT EFFORTS IN THE ME, BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY. Year 2008 -2010 > To salvage the Radical Islamist OWG agenda, which by extens also infers agz the validity of NON-ISLAMIST ISLAM AS A WORLD-DIVINE RELIGION + OWG MODEL, IMO OSAMA + RADICAL ISLAM NEED A ISLAMIST-ONLY, UNILATER MAJOR/SIGNIFICANT BATTLEFIELD VICTORY(S) IN THE ME OVER THE USA ANDOR ISRAEL PER SE IN LIEU OF ANY AMER HIROSHIMA = MUTUAL DESTRUCTION SCENARIO. Unless something changes soon or this year, by the above FOX NEWS scope RADICAL ISLAM CAN ONLY LOOK FORWARD TO A PAR OR STRONGER US EFFORT IN THE ME - IOW, EVENTUAL ISLAMIST DEFEAT. As said before, Islamist-specific dedic hopes for a OWG ILsmaist-Jihadist Radicalist State will become heavily dependent on de facto, EXTERNAL GREAT POWER CONFRONTATION AND MUTUAL DESTRUCTION SCHEMES. Before the MAD-FOCUSED RADICAL MULLAHS + 9-11, there was 1980's GORBACHEVISM > IFF THE USSR CANNOT BE BROUGHT UP TO THE LEVELS OF THE US-WEST/NATO, THE LATTER WILL BE BROUGHT DOWN TO THE LEVELS OF THE FORMER. Osama + Moud, etc must be aware that US GMD in Europe will all but nullify the IRANIAN/ISLAMIST BOMB, WHILE UNSTOPPED US ENTRENCHMENT WILL EVENTUALLY TURN A OWG GLOBAL ISLAMIST WAR INTO SO MANY SCATTERED, REGIONAL/LOCAL "POLICE ACTIONS" = SECTARIAN NUISANCES, AND NO LONGER A POTENT/REALIST THREAT TO US-LED OWG-NWO EVEN IFF ARMED WID NUKES-WMDS. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-02-28 22:11 |
| #4 wooohoooo! "little pink concrete hermetically sealed houses for you and meeee" /J Mellencamper |
| Posted by: Frank G 2008-02-28 19:20 |
| #3 A climate of fear and a sense of powerlessness caused by the threats of terrorism and natural disasters .... No, they're caused by the abandonment of individualism in favor of dependency on government. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2008-02-28 18:53 |
| #2 I think there is something to be said for feeling the pain of wartime. In this case the pain should have been aimed at whatever it took to get us away from oil soon after Sept 11 and securing the border and the pain involved in mowing our own lawns, etc. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-02-28 17:14 |
| #1 Unlike during World War II, when the entire U.S. population was mobilized.. No. Quasi-militarized to maximize wartime production with limited resources and manufacturing capacity. Tell me the shortages in resources that have created strategic problems for our forces today other than Congress sticking it finger into the process and playing politics with the financing? The man confuses 'mobilization' with 'will' and the reasons for government to effect either. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-02-28 16:58 |