My first recolection of terrorism on U. soil was the first Wolrd Trade Center bombing in 1993. Second, the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City. Now that we are still dealing with the latest attacks on the World Trade Centers, I find myself almost indifferent. Even though it was a shock, after all of the fuss it seems that all it did was inflame an administration that was looking for a fight. And they found one. So now we have a new and inflamed "war" on terrorism escalated by the Bush, Jr. administration. His predecessors are actually the people that began this "war" and now since these attacks, Jr. has purpose and determination to go after those believed responsible. As American citizens we have the right to expect that our government will do all in their power to protect us from foreign and domestic attacks. The way I look at the situation is this: why wait for them to come to us? It seems clear to agree that this is George W. Bush's policy: get them before they get us.
The presidence that our nation has set is this: help those in need and oppress evil. It is our basis for being Americans. We fought for our economic, politcal, and religious freedom from a dictator who believed in only oppression. Now that we have our own, for some reason we still feel threatened by those who oppress. So in turn we try to rid the world of this. After September 11, Americans wanted revenge. It's only human nature to retaliate; and we are. Our counterterrorism policy is to 1) make no concessions to terrorists and strike no deals; 2) to bring terrorists to justice for their crimes; 3) to isolate and apply pressure on states that sponsor terrorism to force them to change their behavior, and 4) to bolster the counterterrorism capabilities of those countries that work with the U.S. and require assistance. To reinforce this statement I have found, in further research, this excerpt taken from the unclassified policy founded on June 21, 1995 directed toward the Vice President and other state officials, including the Secretary of State, Treasury, Defense, the Attorney General, etc.
