[tw]

Should the World Trade Center be rebuilt? Before answering, understand why a fire brought down the 1st two towers so quickly. Both shifts of the legenday NYFD Resuce 1 were all lost without understanding the dangers. Why? Should the WTC be rebuilt? Will we be pragmatic, emotional, or just defiant? If your think I even implied an answer, then you must re-examine your own biases.

On StarTrek, (Wrath of Khan), a starship had security encryption AND could be flown from another ship. Commerical airliners still don't even require keyed ignitions; let alone operator security codes. Previous security plans assumed hijackers were low intelligent extremists who could not operate complex controls, or who wanted to live. Assumptions made in error twice over. What is in the future for all computerized airliners that can fly and even land themselves without a human pilot? GPS - meaning that an airliner can be restricted from some airspaces no matter what the pilot tries to do. Are these ideas new to you? Then what were your news sources even 6 months ago?

While wasting big bucks and excessive time on some exotic and silly missile defense system, even the White House still has no defense from a jumbo jet even after being attacked by a helicopter (see it in Willow Grove) and a small plane. People who come from where the work gets done have been talking about basic, 'not glorious', defense systems. However politicans push a silly intercontinential missile defense system when even a working theatre defense system (Patriot) does not exist. As Undertoad has noted, Clancy defined a jumbo jet attack about 5 years ago in his best selling novel. Instead of overpriced systems, maybe politicans will now listen to those low tech air defense systems for cities? It requires listening to people who come from where the work gets done rather than people who bribe with campaign contributions.

The greatest threat to Washington - National (now Reagan) Airport puts landing planes within thousands of feet to the Capitol, Pentagon, Foggy Bottom, Supreme Court, and White House. Maybe politicans will drive out to Dulles instead of to personal parking spaces in National? Heaven forbid that politicans should inconvenience themselves. Close National Airport now. Republican extremists may be too attached to the airport's name to be so pragmatic.

Suddenly the White House says there was a threat to Air Force One. How? The sky was devoid of any plane. Any plane that kept flying would have been shot down. Also Air Force One is designed to fly significantly higher than any commerical airliner as well as refuel in mid-air. So where was this threat? Reporters doubted that one, immediately questioned those answers, and got silly answers.

On D-Day, most of the 29th Division sacrificed their bodies to stop bullets. Patriots. A few patriots on a Long Island RR train attacked an armed gunman using bodies to stop a massacre. Patriots are not people who sing to a flag. Patriots usually only have one oppurtunity in a lifetime to prove themselves. Over PA, once such patriot called his wife just before a planeload of patriots attacked the hijackers. Hopefully hijackers did not turn off the black boxes so we can learn the truth. (unfortunately those same boxes in the WTC probably never survived a fire so hot.)

If turned off, we may never know whether to present postumously the Congressional Metal of Honor to civilians who, as soldiers in a war, did what patriots do. Their action may have saved the White House. IOW dead patriotic passengers would have been piled in the aisles as they attacked hijackers in waves. Did it happen? Did they respond rather than cry tears? What you would have done?