Fear of Al-Qaeda

Do you really think Al-Qaeda and the other Islamic terrorists have a chance to conquer the United States? Or could they invade us to the point that America surrenders? I don't - I think their only options for any kind of victory over America are to scare us into bankrupting ourselves by launching horribly expensive military overreaches like the Iraq disaster, or by scaring us into supporting laws that slowly reduce our freedom and violate the Constitution and Bill of Rights, or by scaring us into supporting a president that does the same damage to the Constitution illegally behind closed doors. (or nuke us - please read on) Nearly all of the experts on Constitutional law not in Bush's back pocket agree that calling a program "Terrorist Surveillance" does not mean it isn't "Illegal Wiretapping". Bush critics like me are not against wiretapping terrorists, we are against violating the law to do it (and then lying about it). I agree with Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up a little liberty for the promise of security deserve neither". Another wise man said "Facism will come to this country wrapped in the flag". That is what is happening to America. I was as completely enraged at the sight of the 9/11 disaster as anyone - I rode the motorcycle to work for a week with a 6-foot flag flying proudly on the back. But would you not agree that those attacks were symbolic and not strategic? Killing innocent civilians while attacking the symbol of the US economy and the symbol of the US military (and the symbol of US democratic government if Flight 93 had hit its intended target) will not kill America. It will however obviously make people's assholes tighten up in fear so much that they will be willing to sacrifice the meaning of America for a false sense of security. We should be fighting terrorists strategically and not symbolically. Namely, stopping people who want to hurt us from getting the weapons that actually could physically destroy this country. It's all about the WMD's. If we did not owe China so much money, I think we could have pressured them to help cripple N. Korea's nuclear program. There are lots of things we could be doing to account for and secure the world's nuclear weapons. You know what the most strategically successful action we have taken to prevent another 9/11? It's not confiscating nail files at the airport. It's reinforcing the cockpit doors so no one can get in - the company that makes them is here in Greensboro 1 mile from my office. I don't give a damn if they hate us, only if they have the means to do anything about it. You're right that there's probably very little we can do to change their motives, but we can take steps to remove the means.
As far as the Geneva Conventions not covering terrorists and whether waterboarding is torture, the U.S. Supreme Court does not agree with you. Geneva was written with specific details covering enemy combatants not in uniform. There is no new threat that requires a new set of rules. See the Court's Hamdan decision confirming Geneva protections for all classes of terrorist or other captured enemies. As I said before, if these tactics are ruled illegal, then you're providing a weapon to the enemy during their trial. I'm sure you know from your days as a cop about inadmissable evidence that the judge throws out. I think waterboarding and other physically brutal techniques are gutter tactics and nothing we can be proud of. We have fought against enemies who used torture - we tried the Japanese for war crimes after WWII because they waterboarded US prisoners. We cannot let our rage at terrorist brutality cause us to redefine America.
I was also thinking about your frequent question: (Given the current situation, what is your plan for Iraq now?) If I were president, I would pull most troops out of central Iraq (all except some spies remain) and move them to Kurdistan or along the border with Iran so we can monitor the situation and react quickly if Iran tries to sieze the oil fields, smuggle in weapons, or influence the nominal Iraqi government. Maintain complete control of all airports. The national guard is for this nation, not Iraq - bring them home immediately. For once, ask the American people to make a sacrifice for this cause. Reverse Bush's tax cuts to pay for the $4 billion per week we're spending, and instead of lowering military enlistment standards and kicking out gay Arabic translators, institute a draft. Minimize all violent conflict with the militias because their civil war is not our fight.
I cannot stand to watch him president bush wave the bloody shirt of 9/11 during every election campaign. The lying and incompetence and cronyism will produce such opinions in this militant libertarian atheist. New Hampshire has a great motto - "Live Free or Die". I am not a pacifist, just a realist who gets riled up when anyone says I have to choose between Bush or the terrorists - I believe there is a better way. If I call the exterminator because I have rats, then tell him using a hammer is not the best way to kill them, that does not mean I'm with the rats.
I voted early on Saturday. I voted for the Democratic Congressmen because I am a legislative conservative and I want a check on the RINO radicals running this country.