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Return to Article: Five years after 9/11, question is: Could it happen again?

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  It's not a question of "if," but "when" terrorists will attack us again. They waited eight years after the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, and used that time to make plans, while looking for new vulnerabilities. These terrorists are fanatics, who welcome death as martyrs. Unfortunately, we haven't heard the last of them, which is why many Americans have to stop being so complacent, and remember the lessons of 9/11, which was to us like Pearl Harbor was to our parents and grandparents.

  GovExec.com reader Posted October 31, 2006 4:02 PM
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  It really touched me. I feel safer now, but sad because of the lives that were lost.

  GovExec.com reader Posted September 12, 2006 10:17 PM
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  The more I hear the 9/11 story told and retold in the media, the more it sounds like political spin. Could 9/11 have been prevented? Absolutely. If our government would have followed through with energy conservation programs started in the 1970s and had weaned us off foreign oil imports, the terrorists wouldn't have had the funds to cause these problems. We were misled.

  Can it happen again? Absolutely! As long as we continue to rationalize our extremely wasteful lifestyles, as long as we drive Humvees and SUVs because they're "fun" and as long as we continue to allow our political leaders to receive great windfalls from big energy, we will have well-funded terrorists with the best technology money can buy.

  Our security net is an illusion created by our government. For every great security device on our borders and at our airports, there are a thousand other ways to cause death and destruction. It's the money that makes the difference. Take away their source of money and terrorists can't do much. But, don't expect much cooperation from our government leaders in doing it. They have too much personal gain at stake.

  Robert M. Posted September 6, 2006 2:14 PM
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  9/11 deja vue? Yes, sadly, but perhaps not using passenger planes. My previous experience with cargo aviation and general aviation leads me to believe that these are the elements most vulnerable to terrorist infiltration. Let's not forget railways, subways, tunnels, bridges, etc. It's easy to be naive in America, and just as easy to be paranoid. The trick is to balance out the two extremes by being aware. Only when we realize that the so-called war on terror is an ongoing process, and that we are all involved can we at least prevent some planned atrocities, as the Brits did.

  GovExec.com reader Posted September 5, 2006 5:03 AM