Dr. Clouthier – thank you for this posting. I just put something on my blog (www.counterterrorforum.com) regarding news out of the UK today about 25 British-born, radicalized Islamists currently in Yemen training for terrorist attacks at 5 separate camps. They are specifically tracking these men. They believe these men will return to the UK and await word from al Qaeda to initiate attacks. Oddly enough, this is headline news around the world today – everywhere, except for in the U.S.

Once again, I feel that we don’t want to “scare” our citizens with the facts. Actually, we should be educating them, so they can be force multipliers in this fight. As illustrated Christmas Day, air marshals can not be on every flight. At times it will come down to the average citizen to take action to identify a threat–and maybe even mitigate. How powerful it would be to have 365 million citizens who understand the threat, and know how then can engage.

Keeping them comfortably in the dark is NOT how we should treat our populace. Having them overrely on the government for help is NOT a good idea — as shown during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Law enforcement is resource-constrained and stretched to the max. We have a crisis on our southern border with the extraordinarily violent cartels on our doorstep. Are we ready for beheadings, brutal attacks on police and government officials and their families? How about public hangings from bridges? Gang activity is spreading beyond major cities into small communities. The threat of domestic terrorism is rising. Hate crimes are more prevalent – no matter your religious beliefs, race, or sexual orientation – there is a group that hates you and may perpetrate violent acts against you. Cybercrime is on the rise.

Bottom line – there is not enough manpower, money or equipment for law enforcement to address these needs. Now factor in the threat of international terrorist attacks and they are task saturated. So we need our citizens in the fight – not to literally take up arms – but to cimply understand more about threat than just the CNN ticker, or USA Today sound byte.

Unfortunately, we’re in a world that is more interested in Hollywood gossip than national security. We have men and women in (and out) of uniform dying daily in a fight against terrorists and their supporters…and yet it sure doesn’t feel like our country is at war, does it?

When will we put the focus of our citizens on our most pressing issues? How many understand that the radical Islamist ideology could easily lead to an apocalyptic attack with a weapon of mass destruction? How many really care?

Just my two cents worth. Thank you for your in depth coverage of our national security issues, and I sincerely hope your readers will continue to dig and educate themselves on the threat and how they can actively engage.

Colonel Jennifer Hesterman, US Air Force (retired)