2nd Question - Improving National Security

[Bester]

The events of 9/11, as well as other attacks against our nation have underscored the threats we face today as a nation. While there have been improvements made, much work remains to truely secure our nation from terroristic attacks.

What steps would you take to protect our nation and its people from further harm?

 

[Adept]

While inequality exists, those less fortunate will feel sufficiently aggravated that they become eager recruits for terrorism. In order to permanently end this situation, the inequality must be removed. This can either be done through massive genocide or massive social reform. Until this issue is solved, there will always be a risk of terrorist action.

Until that time, measures must be taken to prevent or minimise the chances of an effective terrorist strike.

However, to do this, one must limit civil liberties and impose many, many restrictions on behaviour.

The key is to find a balance that the populace can live with.

I believe the USA and most western nations have that covered. I would like to see armed Air Marshalls on most flights, and I would like to see tighter restrictions on people from an Arabic background. As un-PC as that sounds, it is foolish to ignore the fact that most anti-US terrorists are from an Arabic background. Apart from that, I dont believe much more can be done.

 

[Bester]

What liberties would you limit? Would you follow the Bush system of requiring loyalty oaths, and unquestioned loyalty?
(Stopping Protests) (Bush Loyalty Oaths Required)

If we legalize racial profiling to stop the terrorists from the Mid-East, can we also legalize it to cut back on our street crime considering that in many areas the majority of gang and street crimes are of African descent?

 

[Adept]

What liberties would you limit? Would you follow the Bush system of requiring loyalty oaths, and unquestioned loyalty?
(Stopping Protests) (Bush Loyalty Oaths Required)

Probably not. Blind faith in anything will get you killed. Apart from the liberties that are already restricted (free access to information and weapons, unrestricted travel of any kind, etc) I would not impose any restrictions. Like I said, I think we have the system down as close to perfect as we can get.

If we legalize racial profiling to stop the terrorists from the Mid-East, can we also legalize it to cut back on our street crime considering that in many areas the majority of gang and street crimes are of African descent?

No, I dont think so. The potential benefits (slightly less petty crime) would not be sufficient to outweigh the costs (a large section of the populace alienated). The same is not true for immigrants of Arabic descent. The potential benefits (untold hundreds, perhaps thousands of lives saved) outweigh the costs (a smaller section of the populace alienated).

 

[Vadim]

National security is definitely a complex issue but one that needs to be addressed. In protecting our nation from terrorists requires an unprecedented level of cooperation from local, state, and federal agencies. Information received from intelligence missions should be dessiminated to the appropriate agencies and action must be taken in a pre-emptive manner.

Adept, while I agree with you that in the 9/11 incident that the terrorists were from an arabic background I doubt simply placing tighter restrictions on these people will have much of an impact. There is no one face to terrorism it is ever changing. Who's to say that the terrorists will not be from another background. Close scrutiny on one particular type of race will only serve to shift the face of the terrorist. We cannot forget about the domestic terrorists that we already have in this nation whose sole purpose is to overthrow the government and establish there own ideals.

The beauty of our country is that we can live free and not have to worry about the "Gestapo" busting down our door and interrogating us. I truely believe that the terrorists want our citizens to live in fear. Do I have an answer to how to solve the issue, no I do not. But I do know that the political battles between various agencies must be removed and a concerted effort must be made by all agencies to keep this nation safe.

Think about it Tim McVeigh was nabbed on a traffic stop. Who knows how many other situations were thwarted that went unreported in the media dealing with terrorism. I can only hope that there is no repeat of 9/11.

-Vadim

 

[rmcrobertson]

Hey, how 'bout just putting zem in ze kamps?

 

[Bester]

The population of the US is aproximately 290 Million.
56-57 Million are classified as Non-White.
37-38 Million of those are listed "black"
19 Million are listed as mixed, asian, indian, or other.

That leaves the US with a population of about 230-240 Million "Whites"

If we're going to profile the "Arabs" to combat terrorism, and ignore the legalities of that because they are a small minority, the same logic holds true when we start profiling asians, jews and to a lesser extent, even blacks.

If it's not right to profile the "blacks" and hispanics, (despite their being involved in 60+% of the crimes recorded) then we should not be profiling period. We've had several terrorist attacks in the country. 2 were done by arabs (the WTC and 9/11). The vast majority were done by whites. The Oklahoma bombing was done by a white. The majority of our school shootings, including Columbine were done by middle class whites.

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/crimoff.htm
Characteristics of jail inmates

Demographics

* Women were 12% of the local jail inmates in 2002, up from 10% in 1996.
* Jail inmates were older on average in 2002 than 1996: 38% were age 35 or older, up from 32% in 1996.
* More than 6 in 10 persons in local jails in 2002 were racial or ethnic minorities, unchanged from 1996.
* An estimated 40% were black; 19%, Hispanic, 1% American Indian; 1% Asian; and 3% of more than one race/ethnicity.

 

[Bester]

Hey, how 'bout just putting zem in ze kamps?

They have already started that.

 

[Darksoul]

-Its certainly true about the dissproportion in terms of blacks and hispanics criminal activity and population in the US. Why are there more blacks and hispanics in jail/prison when whites outnumber them by far? Its hard to find a solution that doesn't affect some group, like race or country of origin. I do think we should do more about our borders. Those 'floodgates' need to be controlled; we have a country to protect, and it all starts at home.


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