Sept 11: 2yrs on- is the world a safer place?

[grubs50]

Considering the actions taken by Messrs Bush and Blair in reaction to the world trade centre bombing, should we be thanking (and probably praising their foresight) 4 making the world a safer place 2 years along d line. Has the war against terrorism made u feel more comfortable when flying in a plane or when visiting so-called hotspots like the middle-east or Asia?

 

[Newtron Bomb]

grubs50 & anyone else interested

Just a different take on your question.... has the face on terrorism changed? If we exclude the one key event, sept 11, would be be so concerned with who bombed who around the world?

I personally think the terrorism itself has not changed but peoples perception of terrorism. We are all more conscious of the "possible" threat in our back yard as a result of such a terrible atrocity.

The message that it can happen anywhere at any time is now at the forefront of everyone everywhere and every age's minds.

To answer your question "Is the world a safer place?" i think ive more chance of being run over by a car.

 

[oatman]

No

 

[jonnyy40]

Been down to visit my father twice a day in hospital since he suffered a stroke three days ago.Because he's elderly and can't complain,he's the last to be fed and I've taken to going in at 12 noon and 6 to make sure he's eating - I feed him. He didn't have the strength to pour water for himself (and I don't believe anyone was giving him a drink when I or his wife weren't there).I went down this morning and he'd had a catheter inserted.The urine bag was on the floor and his feet were in it. 'He wasn't passing water and so has got a bladder infection' (bacause he wasn't drinking enough???). Things can only get better? -- what a fecking joke. Still,we're in the lounge.

 

[Newtron Bomb]

I think youve summed it up jonnyy40

Its better to deal with whats actually happening than worry about what might happen.

Please accept my best wishes for a speedy recovery for your father and the strength of mind to you and your family.

 

[Rognvald]

jonnyy40
Put in a formal complaint - it'l take you 6 months to get through it but its the only way to register our discontent with e NHS. I don't say it will make an immediate difference but it'll show up on the Acute trust figures etc when they get inspected by CHI
Ron

 

[ChartMan]

J 40- that reminds me of my mother in law. Her husband spent from early morning til last thing at night to ensure that the care she got was adequate. What a joke!. eg "NIL BY MOUTH" - she had parkinsons- very bad, and had lost control over her "swallowing muscles". Along came a 'Nurse' ( out of retirement) and tried to give her a tablet with a cup of water. Lucky her husband was there or she would have likely drowned. eg instead of flushing out her drip feed food, they tried to connect another one.... eg they turned up the drip feed timer to 10 times the feed rate....eg she had to wait 24 hours before a doctor could be found to check the XRAY that showed that her feeding tube was in her stomach and not in her lungs , which it was. etc etc. Isolated cases?
Take care J 40 ..... Hope your Dad has a good recovery.

 

[zambuck]

jonnyy40

your statements have summed up the situation very precisely...sort the mess out here at home before sorting the mess abroad...

what may happen in future from abroad is not as important as what is happening now...

politicians have a knack of bending peoples perceptions to hide the real issues...and the current situation shows..

hope everything works out well for you...a prayer in your fathers name tonight from our family...

all the best

 

[jonnyy40]

Thanks all for the thoughts,I was a little bit hacked off when I wrote it.And this was a convenient relief valve.

 

[Crazy Guy]

Let's hope for a peaceful day today.

 

[rustic1]

I too hope we have a peaceful day today.
You are right charity should start at home.
I have lost both parents, all 4 grandparents, uncles ect too cancer or stroke NHS was good & bad. I can not believe in this day and age we still have no cures.
What about that poor lady who has had too sleep in a wheelchair for over a year disgusting!

For everyone who has still got their mum & dad make a big fuss of them this weekend you do not know how much you miss them when they have gone, do not leave it too late.Big fuss you hear!



Rustic

 

[grubs50]

My heart goes out to jonnyy40 (hope ur dad makes a good recovery), rustic 1 and anybody who has lost a love one thru illness, wars, etc.............it's personal stories like these that emphasise the fact that the most publicised tragedies don't neccesary reflect other ppl's personal grief.

 

[money123]

srry to hear bout your dad johnny40 hope he recovers quickly.
wish you and your family all the best

 

[Pat494]

A recent panic over the NHS shortcomings will hopefully make it better.

Just getting back on topic about the world being a safer place 10 years down the road. The USA went all out for revenge etc. after 911, swaddled in fine words and as we now know what a disaster it has been. The US has not only bankrupted itself but it's allies as well. Europe is as good as bankrupt too, but partly their own fault of incompetent politicians.

And as for terrorism ? It seems to be expanding into sub Saharan Africa and beyond. Alive and murdering it seems. Algeria, Chad, Somalia etc. US foreign policy is so poor they seem to be pouring petrol on the flames ! Hopeless at foreign policy and always have been. The elite live in their own little bubbles pretending to the voters they are doing well, but we all know they are believing their own propaganda. I think the mantle of leadership should pass on quickly after the US feeble efforts. But to who ?

The crisis between China, Japan and The Philippines looks bad. The rhetoric is being ramped up for voters back home. The US daren't get involved because they are in debt up to their necks to the Chinese. Will China bully their way to taking the lion's share of the gas/oil around the disputed islands ? We shall see.

 

[wackypete2]

I don't disagree with most of that, Pat, but you forgot 1 thing that's most important to us in the USA: There have been no foreign-borne terrorist attacks here in 10 years. Something is working.

Peter

 

[Pat494]

I don't disagree with most of that, Pat, but you forgot 1 thing that's most important to us in the USA: There have been no foreign-borne terrorist attacks here in 10 years. Something is working.

Peter

Not wishing damage to the US but that's one small plus in the bigger picture. But at what a cost.
I know it's hindsight but surely much of the trillions could have been saved with just a 2 week cruise missile attack to flatten Iraq etc. They would have got the message.

 

[Predicabo]

The USA went all out for revenge etc. after 911, swaddled in fine words and as we now know what a disaster it has been. The US has not only bankrupted itself but it's allies as well. Europe is as good as bankrupt too, but partly their own fault of incompetent politicians.

Current financial situation of developed world is nothing to do with 9/11 or the US's response to that event. Not that the US's response to that event was anything to do with that event either, but...anyway. Current financial situation due to deliberately myopic risk management on a criminal scale, poor regulation in that what should have been more firmly regulated was not and that which didn't and doesn't require it is over-regulated to destruction and the sub-prime credit bust. Incompetent politicians don't help and their combined efforts to help are hindering the recovery, but they're not the cause.

And as for terrorism ? It seems to be expanding into sub Saharan Africa and beyond. Alive and murdering it seems. Algeria, Chad, Somalia etc. US foreign policy is so poor they seem to be pouring petrol on the flames ! Hopeless at foreign policy and always have been. The elite live in their own little bubbles pretending to the voters they are doing well, but we all know they are believing their own propaganda. I think the mantle of leadership should pass on quickly after the US feeble efforts. But to who ?

Africa has always been a training ground for fundamentalists and jihadists, that's not a recent development. US foreign policy is now officially away from Europe and toward AsiaPac. China is in Africa in a big way and has no desire or intent to assist militarily. What the Chinese are doing is helping build the infrastructure to support their (China's) needs 20 years down the line. A by-product of that development will be improving conditions for the general population, better roads, facilities, education etc. Basically, all the things that make the attraction of Holy Wars and being a terrorist a little less so. There's more glamour in getting a degree, a good job and a cool lifestyle than being a fighter. Africa will sort itself out as long as we let the Chinese get on with what they're doing there.

The crisis between China, Japan and The Philippines looks bad. The rhetoric is being ramped up for voters back home. The US daren't get involved because they are in debt up to their necks to the Chinese. Will China bully their way to taking the lion's share of the gas/oil around the disputed islands ? We shall see.

See my para above regarding geographical change in US foreign policy focus. The US position may be to use all that good technology ON the Chinese before the Chinese steal it from them and use it back on them. Who knows? You can't grow an economy if nobody's got anything to feed that growth and QE will only go so far. Times of austerity, hardship and depression have always typically spawned wars which do wonders for the GDP. The cycle of super-power world domination is due to move eastwards yet again and I'm not sure even if it were preventable that we should try.

Buy Africa. Buy China. Sell Europe. Sell US.

 

[Pat494]

Africa will sort itself out as long as we let the Chinese get on with what they're doing there.


If the Chinese get to do in Africa what they have done in Tibet then the Africans are in for a nasty shock !!

 

[wackypete2]

Not wishing damage to the US but that's one small plus in the bigger picture. But at what a cost.
I know it's hindsight but surely much of the trillions could have been saved with just a 2 week cruise missile attack to flatten Iraq etc. They would have got the message.

Pat, Sadam never got the message. That's why he is deceased now.
Everyone has their own thoughts on why the US did what they did, but I can assure you that it was never to make the world a safer place. That was not the bigger picture.

I do agree with Predicabo's 1st paragraph.

Peter

 

[Pat494]

Pat, Sadam never got the message. That's why he is deceased now.
Everyone has their own thoughts on why the US did what they did, but I can assure you that it was never to make the world a safer place. That was not the bigger picture.

I do agree with Predicabo's 1st paragraph.

Peter

Saddam never got the message because Bush senior stopped well short of delivering it and the whole excercise had to be repeated by his clueless son, who got engulfed inside Iraq. In fact the 911 terrorism didn't even originate in Iraq.
I put forward the theory that it was largely to support Israel by knocking out the Arab military super power in that region. The Jewish lobby in the US triumphed yet again.