For years we've been warned about the threat of terrorism, rogue states, and WMD. No one really took it very seriously.
Well, that's not quite true.. Many people took it QUITE seriously. But democracies, and especially the US, has always had a history of being reactive, not proactive. Bush is the first president to really make "pre-emption" of potential future threats a foreign policy agenda.
There's just too much momentum to not "rock the boat" and get people too worried about things we really cannot fully prepare for, or predict. Saying there will be terrorist attacks is one thing, but stating what type of attack, its targets, and the dates on which it will occur, are all what really matter. And it's THAT information that is most difficult to obtain, especially when our HUMINT collection capability has been literally decimated in favor of electronic intelligence.
The US has almost always been woefully unprepared for the major conflicts in which it has become engaged. WWI, WWII.. etc.. But it's how we finish that ultimately counts.
Hawk |
