We are vulnerable for two reasons, the world has gotten smaller -- more travel, we're more open and as business expands, we are more vulnerable. We are the most free nation in the world -- a Constitution and a Bill of Rights. If we wanted to secure our borders or be a police state, we could, but we won't, because we are a free nation. |
We are vulnerable for two reasons, the world has gotten smaller--more travel, we're more open and as business expands, we are more vulnerable. We are the most free nation in the world--a Constitution and a Bill of Rights. If we wanted to secure our borders or be a police state, we could, but we won't, because we are a free nation. |
We have no idea who's in the ports. And many of the folks who come in to service the ports, that drive the trucks back and forth, are people who don't have very distinguished backgrounds. May have criminal backgrounds. |
We live on the edge as a modern society, and terrorists can take advantage of that, ... What Katrina has told us, Mother Nature has told us: 'You live on the edge, and if you don't make prudent investments, lots of lives and property can be unnecessarily lost.' |
We're not acting like a nation at war. |
We're not building the means to respond well. And when we have that next terrorist incident, there will be hell to pay, because the American people will be in disbelief about how little has been done. |
Well, it would not even have to be a chemical or biological or nuclear weapon. Because the only thing separating that container yard from basically where people live and work is a fence. |
What we have failed to realize is the terrorists showed us on 9/11 that we are vulnerable. And Katrina showed us here in late August and September that we are still a very vulnerable society--and the most vulnerable part of the population ends up without the lifeboat. |
With no debate in Congress or directive from the White House, the Pentagon has narrowly defined its role as 'homeland defense' against an enemy attack from outside the United States, limiting its role in disaster response to a last-resort backfill for civil authorities. Not surprisingly, that philosophy dictates a very passive posture. |
You're not going have a bunch of UAE citizens working the docks. They're longshoremen, vested in high-paying jobs. Most of them are Archie Bunker-kind of Americans. |