Q: Who said:
"Today, we are safer, but we are not yet safe."
a) Hillary Clinton
b) George Bush
c) All of the above.
Answer: all of the above. Hillary is parroting the Bush fearmongering mantra rather than expressing courage and faith in our future.
"Today, we are safer, but we are not yet safe." is what Hillary said tonight and what George Bush said just last September.
(
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/ 2006/09/20060911-3.html)
We need to adopt the FDR mantra that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself". As FDR pointed out nameless unreasoning fear is destroying our ability to make needed progress.
We saw this on the news just yesterday with the vastly overblown story about JFK airport in which 4 people, 3 of which were not even living in the United States and had no real ability to come here were accused of threatening to blow up fuel depots at the airport.
In fact these conspirators were more likely to win the New York lottery than to pose any actual threat to the airport. They did not have access, nor did they have the technical skills required. Yet our press ran around shreiking about this supposed threat, including at tonight's debate, as if it were a meaningful event - simply because it sells ad time and raises viewership.
Our country has faced real threats before and we need to grow a collective backbone in our country and stop cowering in fear at our own shadows.
This is not the Civil War, nor World War II, nor even the Cold War. We are the pre-eminent military power on the planet and outspend the next twenty seven nations combined, yet we are told to be afraid by our leaders rather than show the courage of our forefathers.
Edwards is right - the "war on terror" IS a bumper sticker slogan, not a real policy. Any war on an abstract noun is likely to fail for there is no definition of the mission nor of victory. We have already seen this with the war on drugs. We need not repeat the same mistake with persons who engage in terrorism.
The real key to victory is to alleviate poverty and suffering around the world that feeds the discontent that radicalizes people to take violent action.
The real key is to separate the radicals from their base of support by acting in a humane, just and compassionate manner around the world as Americans and by practicing what we preach.
The real key is to treat these radicals as criminals - not as military adversaries.
When we use the military to fight them, we legitimize their cause and make them military opponents which raises their standing with their base of support.
When we treat them as criminals and prosecute them for their crimes and give them an open and fair trial, they become discredited for the criminals that they are, rather than becoming martyrs to continue recruiting.
We must end the war in Iraq and work to end poverty around the world if we want to win the war on terrorism. For those reasons, Edwards is my man!