Each of us remembers certain pivotal world and national events, but just which events depends in part on our ages. I can vaguely recall VJ day, marking the end of World War II, and can clearly remember the tragic Kennedy and King assassinations, the triumphant Moon landings, and the Iranian hostage crisis which ended when they were freed in 1980. But, most of all, I remember -- indeed, can never forget --the tragic terrorist attack of September 11, 2001, whose eighth anniversary is now upon us.
As the Hazard Mitigation Consultant to the New Hampshire Office of Emergency Management, I was intimately involved in several aspects of the response to that horrid event. Out of that involvement, I developed two specific programs to prevent future such terror events:
the SCOPEandCENTURION plans. SCOPE (Safer Communities through Organized Preventive Effort) outlines a solid procedure to survey and assess the degree of safety and security of every community in America, and then proposes the steps needed to enhance their safety and security. CENTURION proposes the establishment of a Home Guard similar to that of Israel and other nations at severe risk from terrorism or even natural disasters.
Both programs have been praised.
Now, though, eight years after 9/11/01, neither SCOPE nor CENTURION has moved forward, even though each has been submitted to such agencies as FEMA, the Army War College, and the Federal Department of Homeland Security. More-or-less polite letters are all there is to show regarding two concrete proposals which would indeed make this nation safer and more secure. Instead, billions of precious tax dollars have been wasted on public relations stunts, silly 'threat level' measures, unnecessary hardware, and the like.
Philosopher George Santayana was surely correct when he stated that those who forget the lessons of history are condemned to repeat it. May that tragedy eight years ago always be remembered, but even more important, may we get really serious about the prevention of any such future tragedies. Such real preparedness would be the best tribute we could pay to all of those lost to terror tactics eight years ago -- as well as the best way to make that tragedy the last such one for America and Americans.
