Don't mean to sound so depressing, but I had a good dose of reality today.

My Iraqi co-worker came in two hours late. He was heading into work this am, and insurgents stopped the car in front of him and shot the three passengers inside dead. He himself was a passenger in the vehicle he was in, and through the combined efforts of the driver and him, they evaded the ambush. His daily routine is to leave his house, catching a ride with one guy, then change vehicles en route with a different driver, then change one more time. He figures his technique is keeping the insurgents from id'ing him as an employee of an American company.

Today, he was afraid. This is the closest yet he's come to being nailed. He and his buddies are defenseless. All they have is their wits.

Is this the epitome of survival? I dunno, I just know it is more than I could bear, and yet, they have no where to go.

Was the final analysis wrong place, wrong time (almost) OR was he in fact targeted and they just didn't get it done?

Irrespective, paints a pretty nasty portrait of life for a liberated citizen of Iraq.

I'm of the opinion that he has not yet been targeted, though likely they've intelled him and it will only be a matter of time. We believe the poor sods in front of him were on the daily roster and their number was up. In any case, that was close.

With all the violent killing going on here right now, it is definitely changing how people interact. I watched a police video yesterday of a poor old man crossing a road. About halfway across, he started to double over and then fell to the ground moaning. People came to his aid, and after about a dozen people were surrounding him, comforting him, trying to figure out what was wrong and how to help, yep, he detonated his stash, and those dozen people disappeared in a fireball. Yeah, we're talking women and children too, all of them just erased from view.

It is bad. They are just killing now for the sake of killing. Lots of good people dying all around us. We all had better hope and/or pray that this doesn't come to our little world. I certainly hope the London incident sent a message. Survival, in this day and age, may end up having to perpetually stay at threat level 1 when out in the public. Can you imagine driving 3 hours to your favorite fishing hole, setting up camp, then being overrun by 50 or 60 bad guys who's only motivation is destruction? What is in the survival kit for that? <img src="/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Don't know what you could put in the survival kit for that. It's only a matter of time before it comes to main street USA. Too many of the enemy are here already and we are doing nothing to close the borders. I don't know what the answer is.

I'm trying to refrain from crossing the line from survival to survivalist. It isn't easy to limit the conversation to bics or matches and an altoids tin or a plastic soap container when there are so many direct threats around you. Is body armor part of my EDC? You betcha!!!! Every time I am transiting outdoors now I am constantly thinking of the nearest place to hide under that will protect me from flying shrapnel. My security blanket is 12 foot high concrete T-Wall draped with razor wire. It is extreme.

But that is what I have chosen. I have learned to deal with it. What I said earlier is reality. It has been for our country since it began, really. We have just enjoyed a prolonged period of tranquility. I think it will be over soon.

I don't think it can, on that scale.

Over There, the bombers look like the rest of the population. Over here, they'd have to recruit from the following groups to be able to blend in (U.S. Census Data for 2000):

• White - 75.1%
• Black - 12.3%
• Hispanic - 12.5%
• Asian - 3.6%

That's over 100% actually, I'm assuming it's because some identify with more than one classification.

In my opinion, all suicide bombings would do here would be to make it extremely uncomfortable to appear to belong to the same ethnic group the bombers do. Sure, John Walker Lindh was white, but I doubt there's enough like him to provide a sufficient pool of volunteers.

Could be wrong. But the fact that we are a "melting pot" works to our advantage, I think.

Benjammin,

While the world has gotten worse, here in the U.S.A., there are some things that we have that the rest of the world doesn't. FIrst we have a constitution and bill of rights that is supposed to guard us, as citizens, from governmental tyranny,and iIt works pretty well.

Second most states have passed right to carry legislation, so the idea of pulling a car over and terrorizing the occupants is reduced. I believe the statistics are that for every woman that gets a carry permit four are protected as the bad guys don't know who is who.

Third we have had "extremists" in the United States since it was founded. It causes occasional problems, but there has been a marked decrease in "radical" activity in the last five years. A much bigger threat to our society is the growing methamphetamine problem. From labs producing four to five times the toxic waste to "product" and the criminals tendancy to just dump it. Labs are blowing up and spreading the danger to neighbors, and responding emergency workers.

Lastly as a Deputy Sheriff, I can tell you that the Department of Homland Security has not been lax. There has been information given to local law enforcement agencys that the public will never see. This is information that was not given out even three years ago. Information from gang task forces tracking gang members, to possible terror alerts, to many other advisories that the public is not given. Some because it is part of an ongoing investigation, and some because it is just rumor that is being passed on for us to keep and eye open.

When people start looking at the world like it was going to blow up any minute, people tend to go to extremes and are then part of the problem, or are perceived as a redical and thus are having resourses spent on them that could be used on a legitimate consern.

Stay Safe

With all due respect to law enforcement, 'law enforcement' is just that -- they enforce the law. They are not tasked with protecting anyone and unless we want one officer per person, they cannot protect us. They can only be one place at a time, and basically, they arrive after the fact. It used to be -- they would be there to draw a chalk line around your body, but now in the era of suicide bombers, there isn't enough left of you to draw a chalk line around. Look at London -- surveillance cameras every few feet, but that didn't stop the bombings, it helped in apprehensions after the failed bombing, but you are dealing with fanatics that want to die and take as many of us with them as possible. It is up to the individual to protect himself or herself and their family. You cannot look to any agency or government to protect you, they cannot do it -- and you should not realistically expect them to do it.

While I agree with you that it is up to the individual to protect himself against "normal" criminal behavior, do not dismiss the efforts of law enforcement--particularly the much-maligned FBI--in stopping terrorism. The reason there have been no further suicide attacks here is because federal law enforcement has been so successful in monitoring, infiltrating, and then arresting the cells remaining in the USA after Sept. 11, 2001. The time to combat these people is in their planning stages. Once the delusional idiot straps on his bomb there is very little a citizen, even an armed one, can do to stop him.

Regards, Vince

I am not dismissing the efforts of law enforcement, just stating that they are inadequate against the enemies we now face. even the secret service will admit that they cannot protect against someone willing to sacrifice their life to kill the intended target. civilized society can only exist as long as people want to live together peacefully, the enemy we face prefers death to life.