Coming from a military standpoint, one yes I am prepared for this. I'm also prepared for our Second Amendment rights to be destroyed by our current U.S. administration which in my opinion will greatly effect what Juval Aziz is talking about. In regards to the Israeli administration and their war with the Palestinians, it is important that at least in modern history any action against Palestine, military or political, has been a reactionary response to Palestinian attacks. That being said, some times Israel does go a little far with how they respond. I also think it is important to point out that Israel does not attack Palestine as a whole, they attack Hamas. Hamas is currently in control of the country of Palestine and so to the rest of the world this looks like a was between two countries when in fact it is another sect of the War on Terror. I do believe America's prevention methods for terrorism are flawed. I could list multiple ways we could improve security but the majority of them would probably be viewed on this forum as a militant perspective but EVERYONE on this forum needs to understand that the people who comprise these terrorist groups aren't just after America for supporting Israel, they're not just after Democracy. Their "Jihad" is an unjustified "holy war" that the Ayatollah in Iran has created primarily because they feel that their country is superior to any other. That being said the same ideal is upheld here in America and every President in the past 20 years has had this same narcissistic view of ourselves. In most every speech in regards to our country's status or future the phrase "the best country in the world" or some similar phrase is used and is viewed by the outside nations as an insult to their country which is completely understandable. As much as I dislike the Obama administration and as much as it grinds my gears to have seen him AND George Bush Jr, bow to the King of Saudi Arabia I can at least understand that it was a formality that was necessary to promote peace between the primary country that we are reliant on over any other.
To me, our nation has become complacent again after the 9/11 attacks. For about a year, everyone in America became a patriot. People joined the military that never had any intention of doing so for a cause that, at the time, they felt was justified which now I have seen within the military people have that cause degraded by media publicity and a fear of the job they raised their right hand to do. When you take your oath to join the U.S. military you pledge to fight all threats to the nation both foreign and domestic. Terrorism crosses both of those territories as most apparent in the recent Fort Hood shooting by a Major who had been identified as having contact with a radical Islamic Imam in Yemen. To me our biggest threat comes from within because of our lackadaisical views within our intelligence communities. That is a point that Aziz has nailed right on the head.
The over reliance on technology has been portrayed in movies and throughout the media as our biggest weakness because key placed attacks could literally cripple our nation to the point that we may not be able to return from this. In order to be proactive against terrorist attacks to our technological infrastructure it would require a much more militant approach but would be impossible to implement currently as we are not officially "at war" according to Congress.
I also think the human element has been negated within the intelligence community as every time we hear on the news about a major incident happening, (Fort Hood again most recently as I cited above) the information given by a field agent seems to be dismissed instead of properly looked in to. For example, when the CIA picked up on the fact that the Major who was currently at Fort Hood had contact with the Imam in Yemen it was dismissed as a research project he was doing while stationed at Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital, a key point for ALL wounded soldiers from over seas. He was removed from Walter Reed because his commanding officers were too lazy to do any necessary paperwork to remove him from the Army, so in order to save themselves the time and effort they just changed his duty station so they didn't have to deal with him. That is a HUGE problem to me and I think his commanding officers at Walter Reed should be investigated and possibly removed from their commission as officers in the U.S. Army.
I could honestly go on for days about this since I have a very first person view of the events that most people just see on Fox News or CNN but I'll stop with that.
When the listening is good, life is good
He who listens is the master of what is beneficial
Listening is beneficial to the listener
Listening is better than anything else
That is how perfect love is born.
-- Ptahhotep
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