On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 22:30:43 -0400, HarryKrause wrote:

John H. wrote:
On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 15:18:07 -0400, HarryKrause wrote:

John H. wrote:
On Fri, 08 Jul 2005 13:58:30 -0400, HarryKrause wrote:

John H. wrote:



We *cannot* protect everything in this country from terrorists.

About all we are "protecting" from terrorists in this country are the
politicians. These would be the last people I'd spend money to protect.
How would *you* go about protecting all the things that need protection, Harry?

First, I'd stop wasting lives and money on Iraq. If we're bringing war
to them, they're certainly capable of bringing it to us, and, in fact,
did, yesterday. We're not defeating terrorism in Iraq.

I'd close our borders and use our national guard to patrol our northern
and southern borders, and increase funding for the coasties so they
could do a better job of patroling our wet borders.

The National Guard has a mission. An armor battalion is wasted performing guard
duties on the border, as is an engineer battalion or signal battalion.
Performing guard duties prevents the Guard from training for their real mission.
Would you activate them full time? Whose National Guard would you use,
Maryland's?


The National Guard's mission should be changed. The various state's
guard can take turns guarding the borders. It'll give them something to
do while waiting for natural disasters. Sending them overseas to
supplement armies of invasion is plain stupid.


Wouldn't it make more sense to increase the size of the Border Patrol and tell
them to shoot?

I'd devise a reliable system for checking freighters and their contents
coming to our ports.

Would we stop every freighter, unload and inspect all the containers? How long
would we allow the line of freighters to get? Would we simply quadruple the size
of the Coast Guard.


I said I would devise a reliable system. I did not say we should check
each freighter. Right now, we have a paperwork system that is a farce.


I'd harden public infrastructure, such as subways, bridges, tunnels,
dams, where possible through retrofitting, and more closely guard all
major venues where people gather in large numbers.

Should we have airport type security for every subway, train, and bus stop in
America? What is a big number? If forty can be killed, is that a big enough
number? Should we have TSA folks at every school cafeteria? Why not? How about
at every high school basketball or football game?

No, I wouldn't use TSA or anything like it. I'd used trained police and
auxiliary police, including lots of volunteers who are trained to assist.


I would take a good chunk of the $2 billion a week we are wasting on
Iraq, and use it instead to buy legitimate intelligence from arab assets
who can be recruited by and infiltrate al Qaeda cells.

Your measly $2 billion wouldn't even come close to guarding the high school
football games.

I suggested that we spend some serious money on obtaining foreign, arab
speaking intel assets. Old farts like you can guard football games.

I'd stop wasting money on bigger and better military hardware
acquisitions, and concentrate military expenditures on personnel and
training that will help us keep track of terrorist activities. We need
fewer bombers, aircraft carriers and tanks, and more brainpower.

The people who build the bombers, aircraft carriers, and tanks take just the
opposite approach. But, your idea about less concentration on conventional
warfare is a good one, unless China gets it in it's shorts to go do some 'land
acquisition'.


Let them build plowshares, or something civilized people need.



That's just off the top of my head.

Well, better think again.

Why? It certainly is more imaginative than the Bush approach, which is a
total, complete, absolute failure.



Oh...in the next election, I think we ought to pick someone smart.

Maybe the Debs will have somebody decent as an alternative?

It doesn't matter. After eight years of Mr. Stupid, almost anyone would
be better.





Your conservative, militaristic approach...doesn't work.

You think adding a few million Coast Guardsmen will do the job?

Our shorelines are an open invitation to incursions. We need lots more
Coastie patrols, and lots more fast interdiction patrol craft with
advanced radar and sonar. And yes, it would make a difference. The CG is
spread mighty thin.

You keep the foxes out of the henhouse by guarding the henhouse 24/7 and
shutting off access where you can. You don't go wandering through the
forest hoping to encounter the very fox who is eating your chickens.

You hunt and kill the fox!


If the weather is decent, we'll probably head out of Solomons for some
sight fishing Sunday. See you out on the water?
I

The magic words, "We need lots more...and lots more..." The problem is that it
would never be enough, Harry.

--
John H.
On the 'PocoLoco' out of Deale, MD