[Mb-civic] In Case of Attack, Look to Yourself, Not Uncle Sam - Editorial - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

In Case of Attack, Look to Yourself, Not Uncle Sam

Sunday, September 18, 2005; Page B08

Now we know. We are on our own. It's every man for himself.

Hurricane Katrina has shown us that the country is no more prepared for 
a terrorist attack today than it was on Sept. 11, 2001. The question is 
what to do with that information.

How do we protect ourselves and our families, knowing that the 
government is probably not going to protect us? A Sept. 11 front-page 
story said that Washington "lacks a comprehensive way to tell people 
what to do in a state of emergency, especially a terrorist attack with 
no warning" -- this at a time when a terrorist attack is considered 
imminent.

"The next attack is more likely to be catastrophic," says Stephen Flynn, 
a terrorism expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. The terrorists 
will have spent the years since Sept. 11 rebuilding their attack 
structure, he says, and he lists dirty bombs and assaults on chemical 
facilities near large population centers and on the food supply, as the 
next likely forms of terrorism. Hurricane Katrina has "created an 
incentive" for a terrorist attack, Flynn believes, and "the Department 
of Homeland Security is not ready for prime time." Anyone who is not 
prepared for an attack, he continues, diminishes the capability to help 
people who really are in need and becomes part of the problem.

So what is Flynn doing?

"I've got my bottled water, a generator, canned goods, a radio and 
flashlight and two numbers to call."

More than two years ago I wrote a piece telling people to be prepared 
["We Can Do Better Than Duct Tape," op-ed, Feb. 13, 2003]. Preparedness 
now is more important than ever. We have seen in New Orleans what 
happens when people are not prepared.

Here's what you need:

Water and food for at least a week. A radio and a flashlight with 
batteries. Contact numbers for the family, emergency routes and a full 
tank of gas (if you can afford it). First-aid kit, backpacks with 
medicine, the antibiotics Cipro and doxycycline (don't tell us to wait 
and get a prescription from the doctor after the anthrax attack. The 
doctor won't be in, and the drugstores will be closed). And yes, plastic 
sheeting and duct tape. An N95 mask, which sells for a few dollars at 
most drugstores, could save your life.

Here's why you need to do all this: We cannot count on the government to 
help us, and when it can, it will have limited resources. A segment of 
the population will always be incapable of preparing. Every person who 
prepares means one less person to rely on government resources, so it is 
irresponsible and unpatriotic not to prepare if you can.

More than that, it is stupid. Not being prepared puts your life and the 
lives of your family at risk. At the same time, if large numbers of 
people are unprepared, those who have prepared could have their 
resources taken from them, possibly at gunpoint. Therefore, the less 
prepared the population is, the more dangerous the situation will become 
as people grow desperate.

As citizens, we can and must do something else too: Complain.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/16/AR2005091601648.html