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Emotions run high in the U.S. and Britain |
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The United States is an armed land of anxiety, according to wire service news stories and reports from readers. Police presence is up following last week's decision by officials to raise the terrorist threat alert level from elevated to high. But the increase in security has also heightened public anxiety, according to a public opinion poll. Britain, too, is in high security, and police at London’s Catwick Airport Thursday grabbed a Venezuelan who had a live hand grenade in his luggage. Police grabbed two more men at nearby Heathrow Airport because they were inside a perimeter fence. Readers in the United States expressed mixed emotions in messages to A.M. Costa Rica Thursday. A woman in the western state of New Mexico said the sky over her home was full of military planes Wednesday night. She lives near Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories, two prime terrorist targets. A man, a physician said " . . . I am 52, and have never seen anything like this in the United States. Everyone in this country filled with fear and apprehension." Both readers said they were headed to Costa Rica in a few days. The woman said she would sell her home and move her family here. Another reader expressed skepticism that all the security was necessary. He is an accountant in Oregon. "I know Bush is having a hard time drumming up support for a war in Iraq. It seems just possible that this could be merely a ploy to make us all feel the danger so we will support the ‘cause.’" he said. An East Coast reader said that government warnings have caused metro area residents in New York City, Boston and Washington to clean all the hardware stores of bottled water, duct tape and plastic sheeting. The idea is for residents to seal off an interior room in their home against chemical and biological agents. Increased vigilance can result in numerous false alarms. On Thursday alone, two New |
York City bridges were closed for
a time as police investigated suspicious activity. In suburban Atlanta,
authorities evacuated a high school after they discovered a suspicious
device in a hallway.
In Washington, tourists were startled at the sight of vehicle mounted anti-aircraft missiles pointed skyward. Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge briefed members of Congress on the threat Thursday and Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison says there are numerous potential targets. "I think every American needs to be very vigilant, particularly urban areas, particularly big buildings," she said. "Those are some of the general things that we are getting. Buildings that have a particular international significance, like our United States Capitol [which houses Congress]." Also Thursday, the FBI issued a new warning to a wide range of industries to check for possible terrorist infiltrators among their employees. Authorities are particularly concerned about companies involved in telecommunications, energy and heavy industry who could become prey to an attack. The CBS News-New York Times poll found that 82 percent of those surveyed in the northeastern United States believe a terrorist attack is likely in the next few months. Not all readers here are convinced the United States is doing a good job of protecting its citizens. A Pacific beach hotel owner wondered Thursday how Cuban defectors could bring their boat up to a major hotel in Key West, Fla. The Cuban Coast Guard boat cruised right into Key West harbor and docked at the Hyatt with no problem, she said. In Costa Rica there are no obvious signs of increased security. But the government said Thursday it was watching the U.S.-Iraq situation with "profound preoccupation." The message from the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores y Culto said that the government of Costa Rica insists vehemently that Iraq carry out U.N. resolutions with regard to disarmament and collaborate with the international arms inspectors. |
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| It's Valentine's Day, and unfortunately
there is more hate in the world than love. Right now the United States
is on Orange Alert against a terrorists attack. People are being asked
how this affects their lives. I realize that, although I worry about my
friends and family in the States, I am not at all concerned about my own
safety. I simply can't imagine any terrorist group wanting to bomb Costa
Rica.
This, in spite of the fact that Costa Rica is a democratic country where the people enjoy great freedom (two things that the terrorists are supposed to hate). I also realize that here in Costa Rica we have not had alerts regarding Ebola, salmonella, anthrax or other scary bacteria and food- and airborne poisons. The only epidemic scares there have been since I have lived here is dengue and for a short time in Santa Ana, hepatitis. Once Santa Ana went on city water, that scare went away. I drink the water from the tap without concern. And now the worst plague of all is threatening the U.S.: war. When I hear President George Bush speak I always think of the song Johnny One Note. He talks of nothing but war with Iraq, a country that ironically, right now, seems to be the safest place in the Middle East for Americans. The Bush administration seems to have as its goal regime change in Iraq,
and then, once democracy and freedom are established in Iraq we will go
after North Korea. These two nations are notorious for their abuses of
human rights. Both their repression of their people and the deprivation
they have caused to their populations are because all of their money has
gone to support weapons of mini and mass destruction. The U.S. wants to
stop this process and give these people all the good stuff we have in the
States.
Money is needed for our armed forces, for Homeland Security, for bombs
and guns and even more WESOMADs. Included in the cost of war are billions
in bribes to other countries to go to war with us, but not one cent for
food or energy to bribe North Korea to desist in their plans to go nuclear.
Then more will be needed to rebuild the destruction of war. Soon, perhaps,
there will be no money left for peaceful programs. The
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poor will get poorer, the sick, sicker, the dumb dumber. And then, to fight the war on terrorism, the administration has found it necessary to curb the civil rights of both aliens and citizens in the U.S. The first step was the Patriot Act. Now there is talk of Patriot Act II that will extend the power of the government to curb the freedom of its people who will have no recourse to fight this governmental power. All of this is in the name of defense and war to fight two repressive regimes that have ignored the needs of its people in order to maintain its power base. Slowly, the stateless terrorists are winning: Americans are losing their democracy and their freedom. Not having an army, Costa Rica does not have to maintain it or supply it with weapons. I realize that over the years less and less of the money saved as a result of that has been spent on education and health care (which is where it was supposed to go). But, meanwhile, at least, the people living here have not had to worry about the damage done to their health from radiation and nuclear waste or from the accidental release or theft of bio and chemical killers. There are some who sneer at Costa Rica’s disarmament and state that it will be the United States that comes to the rescue of Costa Rica should anyone attack it. Of course they will. That is what the U.S. does, not just for Costa Rica but for all countries, whether they ask or not. As the most powerful, best-armed country in the world, the U.S. has become the worlds self-appointed samurai. The unfortunate outcome may be that with more and more money going to the production of weapons and missile defense systems, the U.S., like North Korea, will have only one product to sell weapons. Pogo was right, We have seen the enemy and they are us. If all of this comes to pass, I wonder who will come forth to rescue the American people? More Jo Stuart: HERE! |
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American-Tico-owned firm cxcc COMPLETE AUTO SERVICE DOOR TO DOOR Commercial and Personal Import and Export xxx Perry Edwards {Amer} Zinnia Stewart {CR} Port Limon Agency (bonded & licensed) (506) 758-2062/2022 |
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How to live, invest or find romance in Costa Rica 
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