America in Terror: What went wrong? What to do? 

Untangling the mess . . .

By Chuck Harder (Nationally syndicated via Talk America Radio Network.)

Let me first commend President Bush and all of his administration; the Congress, FAA, FBI, FEMA, all other government agencies and our troops who are working to protect us. Actions taken by our government have been measured and prudent. We pray for America.

Recognizing who is our enemy

While our national liberal press wallows in the concepts of "diversity, tolerance and multiculturalism," you must be aware that our enemy wants none of that. Even in the most "Westernized" parts of the Middle East you will quickly find yourself in jail for owning a bible or trying to order a beer on a hot day. Worse, their "church schools" teach the little children to hate us and that according to Islamic law, they must grow up wanting to "kill the infidels." Wherever this religion has taken hold you see an end to modernity. They will not stop. This is an ongoing war of cultures that has invaded US shores due to our incompetent people in Washington. Worse, new potential terrorists get off planes landing here each day. We are fools. 

Did we take the bait?  How to end the terror

Some think that Bin Laden and his terrorists anticipated our entry into Afghanistan. Expecting this to inflame the Middle East, they then hope that other Muslim nations will fall like dominoes into their camp. That potential means we must be "on the ready" for grim possibilities.
Contemplating that result - plans need to be made that include closing and regulating the borders. When you travel the 44,238 miles of existing US Interstate highways - you you'll see a fence along either side; 88,476 miles of fencing is already done. Thus it s no problem to fence the Northern and Southern borders. The first fence should be 6 feet high with warning signs in several languages every few hundred feet. The next fence should be 10 foot, electrified and hooked to sensors. Nobody can cross that fence and live - problem solved.
You don t have to be a "rocket scientist" to realize that the terrorists all fit a common profile. Detain those suspects, strap them to a gurney and treat them abundantly with "truth serum," then interrogate them and record it all. After they "talk" - return them by charter flight in leg and hand shackles to a neutral country in the Middle East to face their brothers. Don t let any more in unless we are sure they are verifiable and not dangerous.
Teams will have to inspect every car, truck, trailer, air or ocean-freight container at each point of entry. That cost should be paid by those exporting into the USA or crossing the border. It will be their "cost of doing business" and our salvation.

So, what went wrong?

Now in my late 50 s, I grew up in a much different America. Bulldozer operators used to live next to doctors and dentists in my neighborhood. A long-haul truck-driver, boat repairman and school teacher lived down the street. My Dad was the President and part owner of a prosperous factory - yet we lived in the same subdivision as our neighbor who was a plumber. Our country was different then. Greed was under control and everyone had hope for the future. Good jobs were plentiful and people didn't have to move away from home and thus extended families cared for each other.
Factories were located in about all USA home-towns and "NOW HIRING" signs were everywhere. Life was slower and good. Most families had savings accounts and were paying for their homes. You could get a good job that would allow you to support your family - no matter what was your level of education. Those days are over due to "free-trade" and "globalism." Factories producing merchandise that used to pay a living wage in the USA have been moved offshore where local people in third-world nations are mistreated by global corporations who only pay them "slave wages."
About 10,000 factories and untold millions of jobs have been moved offshore in the name of "free trade." Those left behind in the USA find that service jobs won t replace the income lost when factories close. We are turning into a "caste society" almost like India. Unless you are born to a family of resources, you may be trapped forever into a poverty cycle and unable to form a normal family. The "welfare industry" has prospered while rank-and-file American s have lost the dream of a "better life."
Many of us remember the "Flash Gordon" movie serials. In one episode (Circa 1935), The evil Emperor "Ming the Merciless" had Flash and Doctor Zarkov bound in chains and sent as slaves to work until death in the prison city of the Hawkmen. Naturally we all cheered when Ming was killed.
Go fast-forward from 1935 science-fiction to today s actual facts. Millions of local people in third-world countries are only making pennies-per-hour in overseas sweatshops. Working for merciless bosses and under great fear, they manufacture merchandise and electronics items that they could never afford to buy. And after a 12 hour day of working in terrible conditions they return home to just a shack occupied by many others and probably can only afford a bowl of soup and rice. Are they not wage-slaves? Emperor Ming would be smiling - but hated by all. Perhaps you can now understand why our USA policy of "predatory capitalism" and "free-trade" is hated around the world. Thus, it is us who are viewed as Ming, or "The Great Satan."
The Volkswagen car used to be made in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, USA. VW located there due to a special package of deals from the state government. Before the deals ran out, VW moved to Mexico for cheaper labor. Then September 6, 2001, BBC reported of VW announcing that after the settlement of a 19 day strike at their Mexican plant - and due to the resulting rise in wages from the settlement - they would now move their capital from Mexico to Asia. Emperor Ming would be pleased by all this.
At one time our government used to protect us anywhere on the globe. Back when I grew up - the word around the world was simple; "Never hurt an American Citizen" for if anyone did, our armed forces would be called in to rescue that American citizen no matter where. No more. Current examples are the Philippines where the militant Muslim terrorist group known as Abu Sayyaf kidnapped innocent US citizens and others last year and again earlier this year. They delighted in killing terrified hostages while knowing that America would not lift a finger to protect anyone. And yes, an American citizen radioed a plea to the USA to save them. Did our lack of response to protect our citizens send a message?
When Thomas Jefferson was writing the Declaration of Independence he penned the famous phrase upon which our nation is based, "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The first duty of our government is to protect all of us. Sadly, those in Washington are totally engaged with the giant global corporations to make sure that their desires are attended to. After all, that s where the money comes from for the politicians to all get re-elected. Result; today s "Captains of Global Industry" along with presidents of HMO s and other elites all office out of tall glass and steel Taj Mahals and live like greedy Sultans - while their employees here at home fear more job losses. And thanks to ERISA, everyday taxpayers can t sue their HMO but any and all local, state and federal government employees can!
Family and personal savings in the USA are almost nonexistent today. The average family owes a mortgage and about an additional $8,000.00 more on credit cards - often they had to use them to supplement an income that does not make ends meet. With no good entry-level jobs available, jail is actually a "step-up" for many that have no hope of a good life ahead. The loss of that hope echoes with the "globalization of the economy" as good USA jobs are still moved offshore so the already rich Sultans can profit further.
Rodger Doyle wrote in the 02/01 edition of THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN that, "In 1929 the top 1 percent held a 44 percent share of all personal assets, but by 1976 their share had sunk to 20 percent, in 1998 it was 36 percent." Today, the numbers are almost back to about the 1929 level say several economists. Yet those numbers are only part of the troubled current equation - the disparity of wages and wealth has runaway in the USA. In 1980 the corporate CEO s made 42 times more than the average factory-worker. Today that CEO makes 475 times the pay of those toiling in the "back room." Naturally, these statistics are published world-wide.  And then there s bankruptcy; in 1980, 287,570 individuals filed - which is pale compared to the 1,217,972 cases from last year. And while all this is happening, the morals and ethics in the USA have degraded with many of our radio and video channels now classified as "open sewers."
Although the alarm bells are sounding, Washington refuses to hear them. Just like the deaf ear that was turned to the recent warnings from overseas before the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack. And yes, Washington knew back in 1941 that the Japanese were about to attack Pearl Harbor. Instead of radioing the warning, the message was sent by Western Union and arrived there minutes before the bombs dropped.

Rebuilding our nation

Some economists calculate that the "trade deficit losses" over the last 30 years approaches 3 trillion dollars. (If a billion is a thousand million, then how much is a trillion? Figure a modest home at $80,000.00 and do the math here and you will be astounded.) Those who embrace "free-trade" all forget to explain how you pay for ongoing trade-deficits. Answer: You print more money. Thus a 15 cent loaf of bread circa 1964 now costs well over a dollar - or even more. . . Those who saved money for their retirement years now find that those dollars buy much less today. Unlike the Federal Reserve - they can t print more dollars - they re stuck with what they have.
Returning manufacturing will internalize the economy circa 1964, and real personal wealth will rise, inflation contained, and the multiplier of money recirculating will rekindle the "miracle of Main Street." To do this we must also stop financial bleeding from purchasing oil from the Middle East or elsewhere.
Various studies have found that there is enough solar energy falling on the Badlands of the West to more than power the entire USA if properly converted. One way to do that is to pump sea water inland and crack it into hydrogen and oxygen via solar panels that perfectly provide the direct-current needed. Until hydrogen is online, we have plenty of gas products such as; liquefied natural gas (LNG), compressed natural gas (CNG), and propane.
This national emergency gives us the opportunity to restore America. Argonne National Labs finds that it takes 328 Btu s to move a ton one mile by rail. Moving the same ton a mile by jet air takes 21,760 Btu s. Go back to rail, give the hydrogen franchise to the existing oil companies (who know how to safely market and distribute energy), and end dependence on foreign oil.
Cope with the new paradigm by rebuilding our rail system, we can then travel across our nation via new trains in comfortable compartments with TV, voice and data hookups - at a safe and energy-efficient 80 MPH right now and faster as we rebuild. Convert gasoline vehicles now to abundant CNG, LNG or propane; diesels can run on a mixture of soy oil, ethanol and diesel fuel. Curtail the need for foreign oil; restore our Merchant Marine and trans-Atlantic ships; employ all those on welfare - at least get something for the trillions we now spend on direct payments to people.
So, we are at a turning point. We are now bombing targets overseas while recent USDA statistics document that 12 million US children are going to bed hungry each night here at home. Worse, the phrase "nation building" is creeping into the rhetoric from Washington. Now we are told that we will have to rescue Afghanistan and rebuild the country to save the innocent people. Excuse me, but we have taxpayers in the USA who are displaced, desperate and ignored by their own government. Nation building? Start at the Mississippi Delta and then go North, East and West. Our people deserve no less.
While you are connecting-the-dots, realize that many of the giant cranes now used to remove rubble at "ground zero" in New York bear the names:   Komatsu, Hitachi, and Mitsubishi. Like electronics, computers and other general merchandise, we have also lost much of our manufacturing capacity for critical basic equipment to offshore corporations, We are now at war and need to maintain our national security.
What if the various oversees suppliers that we depend on today - all said, "No." Or, what if the lines of supply are cut? And why did we let our steel industry go bankrupt? Answer: Our government sets speed limits on our highways, puts white lines in the center of roads and makes other regulations to protect us . . . except for our jobs.
Thus my final thought: We better bring the factories back in the name of national security and fix America while we still can. The time is now, the need has never been greater.
(Copyright November 2001 by Chuck Harder, White Springs, Florida USA. All rights reserved) Permission granted to reprint entire text with attribution.
Chuck Harder is a national radio talk host broadcasting via satellite on Talk America across the USA (http://64.70.133.30/, and on international short wave (http://www.whri.com) and live on 130 US radio stations and the Internet.