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Monday, June 13, 2005
Not Winning War on Terror
Posted by Bob BrighamGeorge Bush has utterly failed in the War on Terror. I'm lucky enough to live in San Francisco, but for economic reasons I join many of my neighbors in commuting to the Silicon Valley. As a public transit aficionado, I either car-pool or take Caltrain.
Caltrain is a critical piece of public transit -- from San Francisco to San Jose it is the artery of Silicon Valley. Considering Silicon Valley's unique status as the brains of the new economy, you would think safeguarding Caltrain would be a primary focus -- especially after the Madrid train bombings. You would be wrong.
This morning, upon boarding in San Francisco, I noticed a black backpack that was unattended, and left on a second-level storage rack in a manner so as it would not be seen by the engineers as they make their way down the aisle. So I told an employee, before we left San Francisco. He replied that it probably belonged to somebody using the bathroom. I boarded (on another car) and read the paper while the train travelled through tunnels and over bridges.
As I was getting off (45 minutes later), the engineer saw me taking the above pic, came up, and asked if I had referred to the black bag with the waterbottle. He said it was still there and he'd turn it in when they got to San Jose.
So Bush can spin conviction numbers all he wants. But we aren't safer, not at all. Fifteen months after the Madrid train bombings, Bush has failed to secure one of the most critical train lines in America.
Posted at 12:24 PM in International | Technorati