Michael Hill said:
Ok, I'll give you guys some questions to work with...
1.) Do you believe that the main cause of going to Afghanistan was 9/11? If not, explain please. (I know some people believe that Bush wanted to go to war in the first place, not to be prejudice.)
2.) Do you belive that Operation Iraqi Freedom was a failure?
3.) How do you think airport security has changed since 9/11?
4.) How has America altogether changed since 9/11? Operation Iraqi Freedom?
There you go. Just something to work with. If any of you have anything else to add on, feel free. This is a big project for me and it's great to have people in the flying community to help.
Mike
Hi Mike... Good Q's! Here is one guys opinion:
1) I believe, generally speaking, that 9/11 WAS the triggering event that led us to Afghanistan. Note I said TRIGGERING. I believe that the history of our Asian intervention (both Iraq and Afghanistan) is more about demonstrating to Iran that we had the techincal means and political will to protect American interests and ensure our national security in Southwest Asia. Look at the geography involved: We knock over an Islamic Theocracy on Iran's eastern border. Then we forceably remove a Ba'athist/Pan Arab Nationalist regime on Iran's western border. To me, it seems that having our national interests worthy of war in two countries that border the world's largest state sponser of terrorism and most threatening soon to be member of the "Nuclear Club" is just a little too coincidental. Generally, if you park 250,000 troops on someone's border, they get the message loud and clear. Unfortunately, it seems Ahmadinejad (sp?) isn't picking up the phone.
Summary: 9/11 provided the vehicle for a policy which was already in the works regarding American security interests in the Middle East.
2) Remains to be seen. Nation building is hard. It took a decade after WW2 before we felt a little cozy with things, and American troops were needed to protect Germany (and the rest of W. Europe) from the Soviets until the early 1990's... Nearly half a century of military deployment (and don't forget Korea... We are still there). Iraq isn't an episode of "CSI" where all of the problems can be worked out between commercials for Coke and Charmin. This will take at least a decade, and probably more. I am beginning to doubt we have the political will to make it work, due mostly to the American public's unreasonable expectations and short attention span.
3) I don't feel it has a whole lot. We probably do a good job of preventing "copycat" type crimes. As far as detering a sophisticated threat... Maybe a little better but not much. I am a fan of civil liberties, but lets face it, little old ladies aren't trying to blow stuff up... It is mostly Arab males, 17-35 years of age. Until we start really looking at the folks we need to look at, I feel all the improvements are window dressing only. Unfortunately, if we want to retain the amount of freedom we have in our society, then we have to afford everyone the same rights and make screenings as random as possible. It is a no win situation... Unacceptable civil libery violations or a free society with an element of danger. You pick...
4) Wow... we have changed allot. Americans I think are generally more aware of the world around them. Hard times tend to drive people to become informed and vote, which is a good thing. I think for the first time since the civil rights movement of the '60s we are openly debating what our Constitution means and what we are willing to sacrifice to be safe. All of this is positive. An informed populace is the surest protection agianst tyrrany.
Good luck...
