FREEBIRD

[greg s]

SoxFan,

re: Plus the fact that NORAD was absolutely incompetent IMHO caused many Americans to lose their lives.

Respectfully, you are placing blame where it is not deserved (if blame needs to be placed, at all). Monitoring and protecting against terrorism in domestic airspace was not part of NORAD's mission prior to 9/11, although it is now. As a person who once served in an ICBM silo as a launch officer, I can assure you that the men and women of NORAD are anything but incompetent. Now, if you want to take shots at those who define NORAD's mission, fine. Although you do have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight working for you. I could use your rationale and say that if we had grounded all domestic flights on the evening of 9/10, then 9/11 would never have happened. But why would we have grounded those flights in the absence of the benefit of 20/20 hindsight?

http://www.norad.mil/index2.html

Until the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, NORAD's focus was almost exclusively fixed on threats coming toward the Canadian and American borders, not terrorism in our domestic airspace. Because of that day, NORAD's focus has increased to include domestic airspace. NORAD's mission is truly global.

Prior to Sept. 11, NORAD was a word that was associated predominately with the Cold War. The eyes and ears of NORAD were focused on aerospace threats that may come from sources far away from the shores of Canada and the United States.

Today, the highly skilled men and women of NORAD use ground-based radar, airborne radar, satellites, fighter aircraft, proven command structures and intelligence capabilities to enforce control of the skies over the United States and Canada.

This website is dedicated to the men and women of the Armed Forces in Canada and the United States who have given their lives to maintain the freedom we enjoy in North America. In their names we will continue to "Deter, Detect and Defend."