OK Patriots,
As much as we all mourn today's events, I don't think knee jerk reactions and calls to increase military spending is going to stop terrorism. You have to get them before they get you. And if they live in a foreign country that is just about impossible without approved covert operations during peacetime.
Despite what some of you must think, these kinds of terrorist actions are unavoidable in a free society. NO AMOUNT of HUMINT / SIGINT etc will prevent terrorist attacks without precise information. "An attack in three weeks" may be an indicator of intent, but is totally useless info without a time or date.. It could also be a feint, intended to send us to DEFCON 4 and keep up there until we wilt. What would you do, post a policeman at every corner, put full fighter escort on every commercial airliner for the duration of every flight for years to come - and then shoot them down if they swayed off course? A free society simply can not guard every person and every place against every potential or perceived threat.
Look around you. How many bank robberies, quick-mart hold-ups, muggings, rapes, border crossings, drug deliveries or car thefts occur daily along our borders or in our cities. Do we predict or stop all of them? Even a small percentage?
Military spending won't prevent aircraft or ships from being hijacked any more than increased police funding prevents car jacks. But if you have the cooperation (policical and economic allies) of those who can pinpoint where the bad guys live, or how they operate, or how they keep funded, you can possibly prevent the acts before they start.
