Arrrgh!!!

Second, when ABC aired what they found, the government accused them of a hoax and began investigating them. What an incredible waste of the tax payers money! Why not put the money spent on that investigation toward stronger scanners and pagers, or more employees to check international freight?

Homeland Security is going to have to go a lot further to make the US safe. I'm not so unrealistic as to believe that they will ever screen out 100% of the attempts on us in the future, but they should at least be able to pass a test of this kind.

ABC has done us a service and a disservice. Pointing out our weaknesses can only make us stronger, but they have done it in such a public way that it will encourage others to try the same trick. We must tighten those borders without delay and do it in a very public manner.

ABC has benefited from this test in the amount of corporate publicity it has generated. Unfortunately, in pointing out our weaknesses in such a public manner they have shaken our confidence in our ability to defend ourselves. There was a time when the media reported on breaking news. Now, it seems, the media is into creating news. Could an investigative reporter have uncovered the danger in a less spectacular way? Maybe. Would it have mattered in terms of how we perceive our safety? Probably not.

I'm not privy to the planning that has gone on concerning combatting terrorism in the US, and I don't know all the possible things that could be done to harm us. I don't want to know those things. I've seen the results of terrorism in other countries, and I hope it doesn't become commonplace here. The things that worry me are biological and chemical attacks, and damage to our water supply. We're focusing on our ports, but it wouldn't take much to bring devastation in through our long unguarded borders.

We are a hearty and inventive people. Our population is made up of the descendents of people who were willing to take a risk and make a dangerous journey to start a life in an unknown place. It would be wrong to assume that we have gone soft, and can't or won't protect ourselves.

Our officials need to stop turning away knowledgeable sources of information. It appears they need all the research and experience they can get to resolve our problems, and they need to do it NOW. It's been two years since 9-11-01, and there's no excuse for schoolroom errors like the one ABC has uncovered.