We were all venting..No matter what our reply to this debate. We all have one thing in common and that is we are all FRUSTRATED with how things are being handled by the Government!

I remember terrorist attacks what 30 years ago, on airplanes, OVer all these years we did nothing and they grew stronger and stronger, How many planes blew up overseas and here over the past 30years, How about the USSCOLE and the terrotist killing our navy guys then when Clinton was president, How about the terrorist training in FLorida when Clentin was president but didnt care if they knew how toland or not, THis was repored to Clinton and his group and nothing was done, We hide our head in the sand like an ostrich and pretend everything is good over the last 30 years and esp when Clinton was president, what can you expect Our enemey grows stronger, then they are here living enjoying life but still citizens of Iran and Iraq, Pakistan etc etc. Have you hever looked through the aol and yahoo chat rooms on the internet, One time I went to the gardeing chatroom on AOL thinking hey there are people there talking about gardening, Well yea that chat room was full but I couldndt read a ward they were saying since I dont speak arabic or what ever Iranians read. We need to stand up and be strong, we need to say We need to stand up for what htis country stood for when it started, We have to quit bowing to everyones needs and changing our valiues to please everyone, What is that the prime minister os Australia said, This is the way we are, this is the language we speak if you dont like it leave. Maybe we should be the same way. Stand up and be AMERICA and quit trying to please every foreigner that moves to this country and isnt a citizen,.

"If the freedom of speech is taken away then the dumb silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter" George Washington

I know many have sincere heart felt beliefs on this subject. Some are good and some are just pain wrong. But I would if the opportunity lay my life down for the right for us to keep having the right to express ourselves. But the Taliban or an Islamic Republic goverment would offer few, if any of these rights.

They have things like rape rooms. For women that for whatever reason goes out by herself and gets raped, then they punish her for telling the truth by sending her to a rape room where the sentenced to for lieing. (many times members of her family have to watch) See it takes 3 women to witness and testify of something a man says or they are lieing. And any women that is out by her self must be a whore. Or if caught shop lifting your hand is cut off. If you covert to a different religion and do not denouce it, then it is up to your family to kill you.

These and many, many more things like public beheadings just for a wife to be accused of adultry. Where we can have this and many other discussions against a religious belief or a goverment and not to worry for our life, then we still have much to be thankful for.

After 911, what should have been done=Go over to Afghanastan, hunt down bin Laden (don't tell me that they can't find him)..round up the followers, have informers inform or Blow them off the face of the earth. That would have ended it.

If something decisive would have been don after the First world trade center garage bombing, then none of this would have happened.

Wow is all I can say what an intresting debate, a lot of valid points brought out and a lot to think about. I am not Bush supporter, he took a budget surplus and drove it right into the ground. A week and a half ago I saw him on tv saying that we are NOT in a recession. He needs to pull his head out of his a$$ and take a breath, and pray that we dont go into a depression before he goes out of office in Jan 2009. I would not have voted for this war having the information that was known at the time. I feel that we are more aware of terrorism, but not necessarily safer then we were before 911.

I have always questioned the reason we went after Saddam Hussein and NOT Osama Bin Laden....Bin Laden was the perpetator, he and his henchman. I am so against this war. To me, personally it never did make sense. I have sons at the age where 1 has already had to sign up for selective service and another who will have to in May when he turns 18. I would not want to see a draft re-instated. I would not want my sons fighting what I consider a sesnseless war!

I will be glad when Bush is finally out of office, but I'm afraid its going to take many years to clean up the mess he has made.

As the old saying goes, "where there is a will, there's a way" just imagine what timing and planning went into 911 - it was terribly awesome.

Like I said terrorism has been around for 30 years or more., It took years and years to plan 911, Where was Clinton when they were training in Florida to learn to use our own planes against us,. Oh thats right Clinton was getting a blow job and looking like a pretty boy. The way I look at it we have to fight terrirism sooner or later, we have avoided it for 30 years. Like some say we can fight them on our soil or on theirs. I hate war, I hated the Vietnam war, I protested it. No one wins at war, But the terrorist keep growing and getting stronger, someone had to stand up and say enough is enough.

no i dont we are safe . and there isnt anyone with sense enought to stragtin it out.

I agree that there have been terrorist activities for many years, and nothing of substance has been done. In some cases, such as the hijacking of the cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985, perpetrators were caught and punished, but that's not going to solve the problem when there are whole organizations planning and funding these acts.

I also agree that we could have found bin Laden if we really wanted to. As long as he's out there alive somewhere he can be used as a threat from time to time to try to keep us under control with fear.

Can I just say this from a perspective from a country that does NOT support the USA. There are a number of countries out here who regard the USA as a terrorist state.

I certainly regard George Bush as one of the worst most corrupt and dangerous men out there - dangerous in that he is unbelievably stupid.

Just throwing it in there - and it doesn't mean that I don't like American people in general...just your government at the moment ;-) (oh and Hollywood)

Hi Cath, a lot of us aren't too bloody fond of our government right now either. Bush is worse than corrupt, he's dumber than a box of rocks, and I believe that makes him even more dangerous.

I laugh hysterically every time they current candidates start talking about who is more qualified to answer the emergency call in the middle of the night. We've had this bozo in the White House for seven-plus years and I think he's a ticking time bomb!

Hi Peace,
that's why I don't hate Americans par se - I know that most of you loathe what is happening and that Bush only got in because of total corruption NOT because he was loved by most of the people!

We (in NZ) were not surprised Al Queda attacked America, we were surprised how long it took them to do it.