Is It Too Late?

Is It Too Late?

We thought it would never happen here, but after 9/11, we figured our intelligence, restructured after the WTC fuck-up, would save us.

Then, after billions of dollars and thousands of dead and maimed soldiers and civilians, we thought taking out their leaders would do the trick.

But all that did was leave a vacuum for even crazier zealots to move in.

Maybe at one point there was an opportunity to wipe them out, but now, unlike the Nazis who were a focused enemy, they’re like cockroaches who have invaded a tenement building, infiltrating every continent and every country worth infiltrating, with guerillas either trained by them or brainwashed by their warped message clothed in religious fervor. Treasonous expatriates with American passports, or French passports, or British passports only a jet ride away.

So what did we learn from Paris, the latest in a string of terrorist-backed or inspired massacres, or Sony, the latest in hacking nightmares?

Is it, that despite all our rhetoric and chest-pounding and flag waving and bravado, we have lost and they – whether they are a terrorist cell or lone wolf or fifteen year old hacker – have won?

So we nail the culprits.

So what?

More attacks with bullets or 0’s and 1’s are a certainty. The only uncertainty is when and where.

At Targets while you’re shopping

At the gym, working out.

Or at a bar on a Saturday night, unwinding.

Suddenly all your muscles and career moves and tech toys and friends and lovers mean absolutely nothing.

Is it too late?

What do you think?