by Ken King

As I sit here the day after this attack I am sure that most of America is feeling like I am at this moment, in shock and mourning with pure anger against those that would commit such an act. My prayers and hope of additional survivors go out to those directly impacted by this tragedy. The acts carried out by this terrorists organization have struck at the core of our lives and jeopardizes the basic foundation on which we stand. The fear generated by those that carried out this cowardly attack against the innocent has paralyzed the orderly movement of people throughout the nation and has impacted the entire world to some extent. 

As more information comes in it seems clear that Osama Bin Laden and his group of thugs are those that carried out this coordinated effort against America. I expect that we will now hunt down each and every person involved and exact retribution from them and those that harbor them. Can we do this without escalating this into a world war? I sure hope so and I further hope that those we have done business with before will lend assistance in our endeavor or stand back as we take appropriate response against those that carried this out and those willing to help these terrorists. 

I am also wondering how in the world could this have happened to us? How did we allow our guard to be dropped so far that acts like this could happen? Well I have a theory on that I will now lay out.

For me actions leading to this act started several years ago when this terrorist group attempted and succeeded in shooting down a passenger jet off the cost of New York. Since 1995 there have been at least five separate attempts to down civilian aircraft off the New England coast. One attempt was successful in the downing of TWA800. Our government has covered those acts up in an effort to retain confidence in the civil aviation industry and to deny media coverage to those committing the attacks. This in essence put us to sleep and gave us a false sense of security with regard to air travel. For the most thorough investigation source on this matter I recommend that you read the information contained at http://www.twa800.com. 

The late Commander Donaldson (retired Navy) was adamant in his belief that TWA800 was shot down. He and his partners have laid out the evidence and eye-witness reports to support their beliefs and various other incidents that should have been taken as a warning that further efforts would be taken to bring about a major strike against our way of life. Their data and warnings went unheeded by the majority of those in position to bring about change in how we do business and resulted in our being unprepared for the acts that just occurred. 

As a loyal American I myself have at times felt our government is not beyond hiding essential information from the public. I feel that this is the case again. I hope the new administration will reopen the TWA800 investigation and fully disclose what they find after reviewing the data and the testimony of those that saw what took place. 

Now the question becomes what we can do to prevent this from happening again, that is of course after retaliation for this current attack. For starters the airline industry needs to beef up the security both prior to someone getting on board an aircraft and once the aircraft gets airborne. No one should have at their access a weapon of any form within the fuselage of the aircraft. This means better detection of weapons that could be carried by passengers and more thorough background investigations and monitoring of employees that have access to the aircraft. Additionally, I feel that the airlines should actively engage in the use of multiple undercover security personnel on board each aircraft armed with tazers that can subdue a hijacker or hijackers. Furthermore, cockpit access by unauthorized persons should be denied by strengthening the barriers between the flightcrew and passenger compartment. The flightcrew should be forbidden (once passengers board) from opening the access doors thereby granting access to the flight controls. Aircrews should also be instructed as to what to do if preventive measures fail to prevent an incursion into the flight deck by a hijacker. Whether that be a total system shutdown to prevent a hijacker from gaining control of the aircraft or some other tactic it needs to be looked at. 

Aside for the airlines responsibility our government needs to be candid and forthright in how it handles attacks and attempted attacks against our well being and way of life. We need to know when we are at risk from groups that use these type tactics. When multiple pilots and aircrews report seeing a rocket pass them this information shouldn't be ignored and swept under a carpet. It needs investigated and resolved. I feel that this latest act was due to our governments mishandling of the TWA800 shoot down and those other rocket attacks in addition to ignoring those that would do such a dastardly deed. 

Osama Bin Laden has now got our attention by carrying out this attack (I am convinced that he was involved in the rocket firings and shoot down of TWA800 also). He has awakened a sleeping nation and I am sure he has underestimated the resolve of our new leader. For which he will now suffer the consequences as he should have earlier under previous leadership.