Is America Safer

As I remember the looks in the eyes of the young troops I transported back to America from Iraq and Afghanistan it is hard to say that America is safer place since the events of September 11th. When I think of America I think outside the geographical location and think of the people that make up America. There are so many people that have given their lives for our safety and freedom. I do not think America is a safer place then it was before the events of September 11th and I will give a couple reasons to support my opinion.
Before September 11th troops were performing the duties they were trained to do. If you look at any base you will see that the people that normally protect are bases are deployed and the security police performing these duties are now augmented troops from all types of different career fields. These troops that are augmenting the security forces are medics, computer technicians, and logistics handlers to name a few. The training they receive is minimal. After you take them out of their normal job you deal with the fact that they are disgruntled. If our bases are not even protected at a level they were before September 11th how can they be safer now. And if our bases are not safer, how can America be safer?
One of the other reasons I think America is not safer is the fact that we are a nation of pride and we will stand up for what we think is right or what others in control think is right. For this reason we put American troops on the front lines of battle everyday. The people that get paid to protect America on a daily basis are in a foreign country fighting for our freedom. The fact is if you have a chip on your shoulder, there will always be somebody trying to knock it off. Before the events of Sept 11th we did not have as many troops deployed overseas. The fact that we do have so many deployed overseas and the fact in a lot of cases we do not know who the enemy is makes it more dangerous for American troops.
Another thing that attracts the terrorist and insurgents is the fact that it seems like the United States is trying to Americanize countries that do not want to have the same culture we have in America. Other countries religious beliefs do not follow a lot of the rights we stand for. When we try to impose our beliefs on other countries that do not want it we get resistance and we have those that want to get there message clear to the U.S. These insurgents may be the most dangerous because they are not fighting for money or land; they are fighting for what they believe in. These people pose a threat to America and those defending America in foreign countries, but what about those getting into our country illegally.
With so many illegal aliens getting into our country it makes it easier for homegrown terrorist to attack. In the latest case at Ft. Dix, the six would be terrorist may have carried out their plan if it were not for the actions of a video store clerk. It seems like Americans are more alert of suspicious activities, but I don’t think this makes America safer, I think it just shows that we our scared of the next big attack on our home soil. We have so many organizations that have been created since the attacks of 9/11 to provide better security in America. I don’t know how many times over the last three years we have seen people in charge of these departments step down. Are they stepping down because they are not getting the job done, or are they realizing that no matter what you do you can’t hold everybody as a suspect? You would think with the increase in border security you would have a decrease in the amount of illegal aliens in our country and in our prisons. You may be wondering “what does the amount of illegal aliens in America have to do with the safety in America?” The point I am trying to make is that if it is so easy for illegal immigrants to keep on crossing the border, why does America think it will be harder for terrorist to sneak into the country? I don’t think it will be, and it is impossible to state the number of terrorist that are in the United States right now. On our home soil our terrorist our biggest threat in society today?
With the tragedy at Virginia Tech about a month ago, it seems like Americans should be afraid of other Americans, just as if we were in foreign country. Maybe if we placed more emphasis on issues like stricter gun laws in America we could start protecting ourselves from, well ourselves. We see the car bombings and insurgent attacks in Iraq on the news everyday, but we dont see the inner city gun battles and armed robberies that plague our nation. The only time a killing appears on the news is if it is a mass casualty situation or a car chase. What is the difference between insurgents in Iraq and a gang member in the streets of Los Angeles? The only thing I can think of is if a gang member in Los Angeles kills somebody they have rights and only go to jail for 10 years. If an insurgent kills somebody an American troop can kill them whenever a viable threat occurs. I think we would be a safer country if we were to enforce laws in our own country the way we do in others. Maybe we do not give a second chance to the 15 year old kid that shoots someone and gets off because they are a minor? When congress tried to pass a law prohibiting anybody on the suspected terrorist list the NRA threatened to take them to court saying the law makers were discriminating against certain ethnic groups. It seems everybody wants America to be safe until it starts taking money out of their pocket or inconveniencing them. As Americans we are spoiled and we expect to get our way. After September 11th the airports took a stricter policy on screening passengers. Everybody liked the idea until it came their turn to fly. Then the complaints started coming in, “The lines are too long” or “I have to show up at the airport too early”. Even though these stricter policies ensured the safety of the flights, it seemed Americans would rather risk their flight being hijacked then taking an extra couple of hours to make sure everything was safe and good to go. When it comes to Americans we seem to be stubborn in our ways. I think if another attack happened in our country, we would see the same unity we saw the initial weeks after the attack, but then what? If we want our country to be safer we need to reevaluate our priorities as Americans.
Maybe if we look at the places we get our goods imported from we can cut down some of the security measures. Instead of spending billions of dollars on wars, we could fund better technology into the study of an alternative oil source. Just think if Iraq did not have anything to offer the United States, would we really be over there? If we were not over in Iraq then our troops could protect the United States the way it should be protected. I think we spend so much time helping other countries out that we do not take into account our own nations security. If we want to succeed as a nation then we really need to start thinking about the American people first and cracking down on gun violence in America. For America to be safer we do not need to go overseas to fight a battle, we need to go on the offensive right in our own country.

Until next time "HAVE A NICE DAY"