How Safe Are We?

[GrandpaDan]

On 1-11-15 Senator Dianne Feinstein announced that there are terrorist sleeper cells in the US. Bill Forstchen a highly respected military historian and NY Times best selling author writes a novel (see link below) about ISIS....a horrifying scenario that in the course of one day massacre kids in school and our highways. Very difficult to read but "appropriate" after the disaster in Paris.

Are we sheep being lulled into believing we are safe? Not the folks in this forum!!!!

We can draw lessons from this and I urge you to read this frightening book.

My best to you all....stay safe.

Dies Irae: Day of Wrath by William R. Forstchen

 

[cmort666]

We're all responsible for our OWN safety.

Forget that at your own peril.

 

[P&R Fan]

A few months ago I attended the funeral of the Dad of a guy I went to high school with. My friend is an FBI agent. I asked him "this is a yes or no question: are we, in Iowa, at risk of terrorist attacks?" He looked me right in the eye and said "yes".
I take him at his word. A story I read today says schools and churches are likely targets.
Jim

 

[BigCityChief]

^Your friend is right. Part of the risk we face comes with living in a free society, but some of it is a function of our weak national leadership. We are perceived as soft and ripe for the taking.^


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[shouldazagged]

How safe have we ever been? More so now than prior to 9/11/01, in many ways, I think.

Safety against lone-wolf terrorism and small sleeper cells is very difficult to achieve in any country the jihadists hate. In a population of over 300 million it still isn't possible to watch everyone, and we wouldn't want that anyway.

We will take some hits, without a doubt. But I refuse to believe that the radical Islamists will overrun this country, with the best-armed civilian populace of any major nation and much-improved intelligence capability.

Ring me up if there is incontrovertible proof that they have control of, and capability to use, advanced ICBM's. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have the missiles or the technology for very long.

In any case I plan to maintain appropriate vigilance and go about my life as before. I refuse to give lunatics or professional alarmists the satisfaction of seeing me change my routines.

 

[fat tom]

Since I seldom attend any event where large crowds are present and I live in a relatively small city,I feel about as safe as anyone might. There is NO defense against a determined enemy however. Just the way it is. The most we can hope for is to minimize the results of an attack to the greatest degree possible.
f.t.

 

[Absalom]

In any case I plan to maintain appropriate vigilance and go about my life as before. I refuse to give lunatics or professional alarmists the satisfaction of seeing me change my routines.

Amen to that. We're never going to be 100% safe, but the average present-day American is still a lot safer than pretty much any member of the human race at any time anywhere else in the world. Statistically, wearing your seatbelt and changing your smoke-detector batteries regularly is going to contribute more to your safety than worrying about a terrorist attack.
I'm sure we'll get hit again somewhere. But just like before, and this includes 9/11, they'll kill Americans, but they'll never be a threat to America. Actually, the spectacular nature of a few events, especially 9/11, has obscured the fact that, given the large number of radical jihadis nowadays, their record of successful attacks against us (outside of their own countries where we went to fight, like Iraq) is absolutely abysmal. I mean, look at the events since 2001: the shoe bomber, the underwear bomber, the abortive Times Square SUV bomb; all, if successful, would have caused many casualties, sure, but these are the people folks are afraid are going to overrun the US? Not so much.

 

[shouldazagged]

The Boston Marathon bombing was tragically successful but still on a relatively small scale. If we compare our last fourteen years to those of France, the UK and other countries we have fared pretty well.

I believe the risk from domestic criminals who have no motivation except money, drugs, turf and "respect" is far greater than that from the jihadi. There's no such thing as complete safety and never has been.

I guess I'm just not too adept at pessimism or paranoia.

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

It's hard enough to defend even when you KNOW it's coming-D-Day, e.g.
My concern is that some will use as an excuse to curb civil liberties, advance the surveillance state, e.g., push a "statist" solution as opposed to allowing individuals to decide for themselves.

 

[smokindog]

The biggest threat we face is apathy. It gave us our problems in DC and can cause more harm than anything else. If you rely on someone else to take care of you, you're in trouble.

 

[saemetric]

Keep guns close at hand and be vigilant

 

[gordon21]

P&R fan said: "A story I read today says schools and churches are likely targets"

That is so true. Schools & churches are easily identifiable targets with predictable attendance times. My daughter in SC attends one of those mega churches with 3000+ people in one building every Sunday.

Targeting that one church and 2-3 others like it PER STATE at the same time in the eastern time zone could easily run the death toll higher than all of WW2 in less than an hour.

Scary as heelll.

People my age look back at hiding under our school desks for atomic attack drills 40+ years ago as quaint compared to the risks we face now.

A school desk was not going to save us then, nor will it in the future.

 

[Smoke]

How Safe Are We?

You're not.

Next question?

 

[wuluf]

For those who did not click on the book link, the author is also the author of "One Second After," a terrific read on a post EMP world. That book has been reviewed and recommended on this forum many times..

 

[P&R Fan]

When 9/11 happened it stunned the country. But I'll bet most people, especially the ones on the Forum, were not "scared". Maybe mad, but not scared. But what if an attack happened in a Midwestern town of about 20,000 people? That would send the message NOBODY is safe in this country. I stated earlier that I read schools and churches are thought to be the next targets. Google Perfect Day Terrorism. It was reported by a well known individual in 2007 that floor plans for schools in this country were found in a terrorist hideout in the Middle East. They had a plan to attack a large number of schools on the same day simultaneously. They planned a Beslan-like attack, where they kill and rape the kids, not planning to get out alive. The schools were in fairly small cities all across the country. This would devastate the country. I can imagine a group of terrorists doing this
in schools or churches all on the same day. It would require very little money or training. Jus have a bunch of guys go in these crowds carrying several high capacity pistols. They could kill dozens in a few minutes, saving the last round to commit suicide.
This is, to me, a very real possibility. I am constantly armed. One tip: If your kids attend a private school talk to the administrators. In Iowa it is legal to carry on school property if you have the schools permission. I have taken several guns to my daughters Christian school to show the history class. After the school shooting a few years ago the principal asked
about my Security company providing armed Security there. I told him it would be prohibitively expensive for them. But I told him I have a carry permit and am often there. I said if I got their permission I would always be armevd there, and they would have that protection for free. He agreed and I got it in writing.
Give it a try. Our kids are too important to risk their safety.
I also always carry at church, with my Pastor's blessing.
Jim

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

When 9/11 happened it stunned the country. But I'll bet most people, especially the ones on the Forum, were not "scared". Maybe mad, but not scared. But what if an attack happened in a Midwestern town of about 20,000 people? That would send the message NOBODY is safe in this country. .

I've been saying that for years. What would really scare me is if some crazy blew up a church or school in a small (less than 10,000) town. Then everyone would know that it's "game on"

 

[pharmer]

Where I work there are almost 3000 people and one armed LEO. Somebody starts shooting, try to keep up. I certainly feel extra safe in a "gun free zone" otherwise known as a "target rich environment." Joe

 

[Philadelphia Patriot]

I'm more worried about the people in Washington trying to take away our rights.

 

[gordon21]

I truly believe the BIG event we are all scared to death of will happen in the middle east, not here. (And it will be within the next 20 years before I die)

Some rogue country (take your pick) will activate a nuclear weapon on Israel soil. Maybe just a small "dirty bomb", but one just the same. At that point it becomes game on and within hours we have thousands of square miles of middle east sand turned into glass.

Russia, the USA and Europe will watch in horror, but will survive.

The USA and Russia have been at odds for less than 150 years. That area of the world has been in-fighting for 2000 years with no let up.

As long as you have 800 million people saying "my god" is better than your god with only 700 million followers and willing to die to prove their point, we will live in fear and anticipation of the worst.

 

[sheepdawg]

Are we safe? How many terrorists do you figure have come into America through Mexico? I'd bet thousands.