You're president, and 911 just happened.

[Zirngibism]

(I don't want this to be a big political "who-are-you-voting-for-in-08" post.)

I just thought, since hindsight is 20-20, pretend you're the president of the US, and it's September 11, 2001. I'd say the majority of everyone here is in agreement that we messed up to at least some (or drastic) extent in Iraq. I;m not trying to say that I think everything the administration has done was the best approach! That's not exactly what this post is about.

If you were president, would you attempt to negotiate with middle-eastern governments? Would you do nothing until you thoughot you had all the intelligence information? Would you simply rebuild the towers and pretend like Americans aren't phased by terrorism?

Most people say we shouldn't have gone into the middle east at all. (Personally, I think we probably should've focussed more on Al Qaeda, but what do I know?) So what would YOU do instead?

[Duq]

First two things I would do.

Grow a beard, and research what is causing people to hate the states there. The grow a beard thing might sound silly, but in their culture the beard means respect, the longer the beard the wiser you are. If you lack any facial hair, you simply dont get any more respect then a teenage boy, even if you are the president of the states.

When they researched what is causing the message of terrorisme (my guess poverty and rolemodeling of locals) it is time for a counter message. I would put on my best suit, beard and all the charm I got. And pick the country in the region that would most likely be my friend. Then I would start funding them. Allow that country to develop themself from an poor country to a country with a strong economy, important would be that american companies and the goverment outsource projects to them as an example to the rest of the world. And well doing that promote western values, but dont enforce democracy, allow for an islamitic government.

In the surrounding region this should lead to countries looking at their neighbour thinking "Damn they have it good, what caused it? Really the states? Yeah they have an awesome leader with a beard I heard" At some point in time they would love to get some of the american loving, and would rather just share in the wealth that being freed by the american army brings, then keep fighting amongst themself.

This would be what I do, ofcourse I know nothing about politics or economy. Except about beards because I read it in the newspaper last friday. (I do think that the beard works, with the turkish baker I get helped first instead of annoying kids cutting in line. Never happenend when I didnt had hair on me face.)

[JAG.]

what i would have done on THAT day.. is immediatly calmed everyone and advised them to stay indoors.

then gather info and what and who may have been responsible. although i find it nearly impossible to KNOW this with certainty that same afternoon.. unless the person responsible PERSONALLY called me and said so.

but i would have begun to gather intell from any credible source or ally to help with the situation, meanwhile PROPERLY negotiating with governments the permission to go into their countries and get the bastard, should they be found there.

with the right info and support, i immediately would have sent 2 [maybe 3] counter-terrorist units to get the sons of bitches and bring them to justice.

all the while RESPECTING and appropriately asking other countries for assistance with the issue.. not DEMANDING that they let me walk in there and tell them what to do.

while THAT was goin on.. i would have tended to the citizens of my country who SERIOUSLY needed information on the situation and continue to calm and respect them as well, keeping them in the loop of THEIR government's business to handle this situation.. instead of treating THEM like criminals or animals being herded to a slaughter house.

trust and communication.. the key elements to ANY successful relationship. but thats just me. what do i know about politics, im just a human being.. - JAG

[squidmonk3j]

1) funnel a shitload of money into patriotic hollywood movie projects, indicating the desired enemy.
2) lower prices on beer and fast-food.
3) attack desired enemy, steal oil.
4) funnel oil money back into hollywood and fastfood industry.
etc.

[Costau D]

1) funnel a shitload of money into patriotic hollywood movie projects, indicating the desired enemy.
2) lower prices on beer and fast-food.
3) attack desired enemy, steal oil.
4) funnel oil money back into hollywood and fastfood industry.
etc.

Hey man no offense. But, that is the stupidest and lamest idea of them all. You should be shot in the sac with a rubber bullet.

[squidmonk3j]

what? teh propaganda machine obviously wasn't up and running....first thing's first. of course, in all direct relations with the general public, i'd hire JAG.

[Costau D]

Only if Jags Vice is Chuck Norris!!

[life on the sofa]

i would definitly have sorted out the situation in my own country while gathering info on who did it, why and likely location. then once i had reassured and informed my country i would contact all middle eastern governments PERSONALLY offer aliance against terrorism and work with civillians and foreign government to find and destroy terrorist cells..i probrably wouldnt have gone after the saddam hussein dictatorship imediatley because he wasnt the man who orchestrated the attacks and WE ALL NO THE WAS NEVER ANY WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION.

working with foreign civillians and governments would have been much more prodcutive then shoving an army in there killing as many people as possible to show you mean buisness..(i know that wasnt QUITE the case but not far off)..i owuld have focused on single operations, not conqering a handfull of countries a time i would have put al efforts into afghanistan because we KNOW there are terrorist cells and training camps there and working with british and UN troops wouldnt have made the US "the enemy" to terrorists because of an alliance.

with the help of civillians it would have been easier to track terrorism but America having killed so many innocents so far in this war has turned the country against them, im sure the people dont enjoy terrorism but would cut off their noses to spite their face in this situation they just dont wanna help america.

but i agree with JAG trust, communication and treating people as equals rather than inferiors is what will aid progress.

[JAG.]

heh well Chuck Norris would definitely be my vice pres.. he could defeat all the terrorists with one roundhouse kick - JAG

[Undertow]

10 point process

1) Activate FEMA and disaster relief.
2) Ground all flights put all armed forces on active alert scrambling fighters from every base with alert squadrons available.
3) Prepare Presidential address to nation
4) Have intel start working overtime figuring out all the logistics that allowed it to happen and figure out why no one either caught this ahead of time or neglected to pass the word along. From what was discovered our intelligence agencies weren't talking to each other so the next thing to come is massive changes in cooperation between said intel groups.
5) Increase border security.
6) After cause has been established call a UN meeting and brief them on the situation requesting a recommended course of action.
7) With UN support request bordering nations to terrorist host countries to step up border operations and put counter-intel into full swing requesting assistance for immediate air strikes and spec ops insertion teams.
8.) Increase maritime force and step up intercept operations for regular inspections.
9) Have a sit down with terrorist host nation leaders requesting their assistance in military operations and offering our protection and aid in ridding said countries of threat. If non compliant, request appropriate assistance from UN.
10) Update public on process regularly.

[life on the sofa]

...meh what undertow said..he said what i wanted to say but better...

btw my comment sounded a bit "anti-America" sorry if you saw it that way it wasnt meant that way..i like america ..just not soo keen on bush :@

[otis]

We've been dealing with AL-Queda and all the muslin fanatics since the end of WW2. (We worked with them when they were fighting the USSR in Afhganistan!)
They hate us for 2 main reasons:
Letting Zionist kick-out and take over Palestine (Isreal)
And having our military on holy grounds in Saudi Arabia.

So, after years of attacks and threats over there, Al-Queda finally said screw it..we'll attack them on their home turf.

Now, after 911, I would have (slowly) pulled out of the middle east and invested $ into alternative enrgies, our economy, and infrastructure. Those countries have nothing to stand on if you take away their oil.
The USA put men on the moon, we can easily come up with a better way to use enrgy and fuel.

But this would have NEVER worked becuase of how much influence big business and lobbiest have on our gov't. It's kind of a no brainer ..make BIG money in a high demand market with a soon to be scarce commodity...OR ...have to compete with others in inventing a new way to use energy? Hmmm. I think I'd go with the money.

It's a sad reality, but people have to remmember that our gov't is majorly controlled by money. I'm no Socialist..but this is one minor glitch in Capitalism. Only in extreme situations is it controlled by the people.

[Chingwa]

Way to go Otis, that's the most(read: only) intelligent thing I've read in this thread yet.

Of course it isn't ALL about oil... but it IS all about MONEY. Every war and intervention this country has ever been involved in can be traced back to this basic fact. Yes, even that holy grail the American Revolution.

All this reactionary war postering is a sham. It raises a climate of permanent war, it keeps the nations of the world in check and pliant to U.S. economic influence... which is what the power brokers in this country have been wanting for 150 years. There is no better way, in their eyes, to keep this country in " good health". When I say good health I mean the economy. When I say the economy I mean corporations.

[Chingwa]

4) Have intel start working overtime figuring out all the logistics that allowed it to happen and figure out why no one either caught this ahead of time or neglected to pass the word along. From what was discovered our intelligence agencies weren't talking to each other so the next thing to come is massive changes in cooperation between said intel groups.

I find it interesting that the worst crisis the CITIZENs of this country have faced in the last half century was caused by Bureaucracy and the best answer to fixing that bureaucracy is to double the size of that bureaucracy. What's the definition of insanity again?

[Undertow]

Wait a tic, let me get this straight, you're saying that you believe removing our presence from the middle east in it's entirety would cease any further action against us while terrorist cells continue to grow? You're saying that turning your back on bordering countries to host nations allowing those terrorists to run rampant is a good idea? You're essentially saying that instead of working WITH the UN (which we didn't) we should turn our backs on all the countries that are a part of it, and bunker up?

[dfacto]

I'd do exactly what GW did, but with much less scaremongering, lying and general douchebaggery, and one less invasion of Iraq.

Afghanistan appeases the masses and brings regime change to a troublesome country, while leaving Saddam in Iraq to continue being wholly irrelevant to world affairs. Al Qaeda has no new breeding ground in a large middle eastern country, but has to contend with fighting in Afghanistan, probably drawing far less radicals to fight, since it's not a high profile country like Iraq.

Global Warming, or some other issue becomes the public boogeyman to politically motivate your average ambivalent voter, and money is spent on useful things rather than a doomed Vietnam mulligan.

And hindsight being 20/20 I'd probably give FEMA a few kicks in the ass before Katrina so they at least do a marginally better job.

Oh, and I'd nuke the whales too.

[Cat]

Otis for president!

[Undertow]

I find it interesting that the worst crisis the CITIZENs of this country have faced in the last half century was caused by Bureaucracy and the best answer to fixing that bureaucracy is to double the size of that bureaucracy. What's the definition of insanity again?

Intelligence bureaus such as Naval Intelligence are the people that are analyzing satellite imagery, intercepting communication, etc. The better your intelligence, the better a chance that you can prevent something like 9/11 from happening again. So yes, making improvements to your intelligence agencies i.e. firing key players that screwed the pooch, is an outstanding idea.

You may want to read exactly what I said. I never said INCREASE THE SIZE OF EVERYTHING GOVT! I said IMPROVE, not INCREASE. So I'm insane for wanting to make sure that law enforcement agencies know when terrorists are entering your country or ramping up activity? You think that dumping all your cash into alternative fuels is going to prevent an extremist from coming into a crowded market place where you live and killing lots of innocent people? You may want to consider doing just a littttle bit of research on the topic. When you push, and push and never let up eventually people (extremist groups i.e. terrorists) get to the point where it doesn't matter what you do. America is a prime target for terrorist organizations as it proves that they can strike a world super power. Even if we shut down every over seas military base and pulled everyone home we would be STILL be a target. I was under the impression that the idea of this thread was to come up with actual alternatives which would also mean adding QUALIFYING statements to back them up, not just insults.

[otis]

The better your intelligence, the better a chance that you can prevent something like 9/11 from happening again.

Wow, you are naive. What will all this survelance bring us? You like the idea of someone watching you all the time? You think that always being on your guard is a way to live? You think ALL Muslim fanatics are dangerous?
WHERE DO YOU DRAW THE LINE?

I don't care how many terrorist groups there are in the world. I won't live my life in FEAR. Terrosim is a last-ditch strategy to fight back. These people are killing themselves in the name of somthing they beleive in. Mainly because they have nothing else to live for. THEY ARE A MINORITY.

Like I said before, terrorism has been around forever.
You can't win or wage a "war" against somthing like that.
You fight it with information and assimilation of sociologies.

Just throw a bunch of Mcdonalds over there. Our economy is the best weapon we have. (j/k..but you get the point.)

[otis]

When you push, and push and never let up eventually people (extremist groups i.e. terrorists) get to the point where it doesn't matter what you do

Prove it. Tell me one group of people in history that has been "pushed" to death and just gave up. BTW, this is a very dangerous mentality to have. Are you just going to squash anybody that gets in your way or is a thorn in your side? and if they don't "give up". ..what will you do? Genocide?

America is a prime target for terrorist organizations as it proves that they can strike a world super power.

This proves nothing. It doesn't matter who you are, it's a fact that everybody and anybody can be a target. BFD.

There are terrorist acts happening everyday all around the world. It's sad, but reality. Are you going to go to war with everyone???

The most effective weapon we have over in Iraq right now are the soldiers who are BEFRIENDING the people over there. Whole cities that used to be insurgent / al-queda strongholds are now moving to our side.

You can't fight this kind of enemy with force.
Call it a mafia strategy but, ..this is the kind of enemy you need to keep close to you. Closer than your allies.

[Undertow]

Wow, you are naive. What will all this survelance bring us? You like the idea of someone watching you all the time? You think that always being on your guard is a way to live? You think ALL Muslim fanatics are dangerous?
WHERE DO YOU DRAW THE LINE?

Name calling doesn't win arguments. I didn't mention anything with regards to wire taps and internal investigations, all my inferences were to international terrorist groups which is where a majority of this started so [QUOTE=otis;1422091]enough with the name calling. It doesn't prove your point.

I don't care how many terrorist groups there are in the world. I won't live my life in FEAR. Terrosim is a last-ditch strategy to fight back. These people are killing themselves in the name of somthing they beleive in. Mainly because they have nothing else to live for. THEY ARE A MINORITY.

GOOD FOR YOU! Having intelligence agencies do their jobs effectively and being able to prevent groups from entering the US will continue to allow you to NOT live in fear.

Like I said before, terrorism has been around forever.
You can't win or wage a "war" against somthing like that.
You fight it with information and assimilation of sociologies.

True, and technically the Crusaders were some of the worst and they weren't Muslim extremist groups either.

Just throw a bunch of Mcdonalds over there. Our economy is the best weapon we have. (j/k..but you get the point.)

heh, there's one in every country

[Duq]

actually, by dumping a macdonalds there, you arent doing a thing. That country, and the local compagnies there need to make a profit, and america should be funding the local goverment. Dont send american building compagnies to work in Iraq, but outsource contracts to local Iraqi builders for example.

The marshallplan(or the European Recovery Program) is an great example about how to rebuild an economy in a wartorn area. And you silly americans even developed it. And it gave the americans also the possibilities of new allies( since they where the big heroes that funded the european countries to go back to their glory days), and it showed, because 2 years later several european countries that benifited from the marshal plan went to war in korea together with the states.

[Undertow]

Prove it. Tell me one group of people in history that has been "pushed" to death and just gave up. BTW, this is a very dangerous mentality to have. Are you just going to squash anybody that gets in your way or is a thorn in your side? and if they don't "give up". ..what will you do? Genocide?

The context of my comment was the we pushed them so far that no matter what we do they will NOT give up. Pulling out of that region isn't going to make the Taliban go "OK, the US is no longer a problem for us, call off anything we had planned for them." You make allot of assumptions about what I'm saying and have a rather pessimistic outlook on anything that offers a solution that involves govt. Correct me if I'm wrong but the thread topic is "WHAT IF YOU WERE PRESIDENT" not "what should slimey policy makers do" My solutions call for working with various organizations to fix the problems inside the organization.

This proves nothing. It doesn't matter who you are, it's a fact that everybody and anybody can be a target. BFD.

There are terrorist acts happening everyday all around the world. It's sad, but reality. Are you going to go to war with everyone???

The most effective weapon we have over in Iraq right now are the soldiers who are BEFRIENDING the people over there. Whole cities that used to be insurgent / al-queda strongholds are now moving to our side.

You can't fight this kind of enemy with force.
Call it a mafia strategy but, ..this is the kind of enemy you need to keep close to you. Closer than your allies.

There's a bit of yes and no involved in this statement. Some are on our side although flare ups do happen and it's due to sectarian violence and religious disagreement that has been going on for quite a long time.

[dfacto]

Wow, you are naive. What will all this survelance bring us? You like the idea of someone watching you all the time? You think that always being on your guard is a way to live? You think ALL Muslim fanatics are dangerous?
WHERE DO YOU DRAW THE LINE?

And as a followup comment, the US intelligence services had plenty of warning about the 9/11 plotters, so you can't say that more intelligence was needed. Bureaucracy let 9/11 happen, not an anemic CIA.

But as always, the handy response to a threat is more rather than better.

[JAG.]

wait everyone hold on a second!!...

let me get more popcorn.. - JAG

[Stark]

I'd read to some seventh graders for like 8 minutes and then wander around aimlessly for about 3 months. After that, I'd rummage around the intel agencies a bit and hope they had something. After a year or two, I'd declare that we were going to war with Al Qaeda and world-wide terrorism with no real plan.

[otis]

Undertow, I wasn't calling you names by saying your comment was "naive".
IMO naive, ignorant are not fighting words...just the same thing as you saying we are uninformed.

I miss understood your comment about pushing..it came across like we should push them until they give up.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the thread topic is "WHAT IF YOU WERE PRESIDENT" not "what should slimey policy makers do"

Last time I checked, the President is a "slimey" policy maker.

My solutions call for working with various organizations to fix the problems inside the organization.

What organization? The US? The UN? or ...Al-Queda?j/k

[otis]

Pulling out of that region isn't going to make the Taliban go "OK, the US is no longer a problem for us,

Ofcourse, but at least the tensions wont be so high.

Europe has been dealing with terrorism a lot longer than the US. I don't recall a Euroopean nation ever "declaring war" on terrorism before? It's ubsurd.

Mark my words: This so called "War on Terrorism" is just a title for the american people to rally behind.
You can't go to war with anonymous individuals.

[Costau D]

I think a lot of you arent realising something. You treat as if these decisions were so simple to make, and idiotic. But judging something from passive observation and already collected stuff that other people studied and wrote about it's just not practical. The best way to do this is to make decisions NOW based on what you would do about certain problems this country is having. Even then you dont know if it would work because you dont have any effect on it.

It's an interesting conversation, but try to have some humility.

You got the convenience of after math and study, not in the moment decision. One thing I agree with this Beuracracy in our country is already complicated enough and is the main source of problems in decision making.

[otis]

NOOOO! It's fun to be an arm-chair president!!!!