How Prepared Should We Be? America’s Complaisance In The Face Of Ebola

Things have been swell, all seems quite well; no need to dwell, on the approaching hell.

One thing we know about our government is it is reactive. It doesn’t really anticipate the happenings of events. From Pearl Harbor (it’s not in Japan) through 9/11 had we had some people who thought beyond the monthly salary that they get whether they perform or not and conjectured into the area of “what if” we should have anticipated both of those attacks and many other present happenings.

When we went into Iraq did anyone ask how we would get out or what would happen if we got out? That we invaded that country without anticipating the future who is to blame? Now it is a mess. Under Saddam Hussein it might not have been our best friend and might have been encouraging some of the actions of the Palestinian suicide bombers but beyond that Saddam’s rule was quite stable though sadistic to some. What have we brought about? ISIS! To those who complain that Obama never should have taken out all our forces I ask did we plan to keep American troops in that country forever.

Do you recall why we went into Afghanistan? It wasn’t to take over the whole country but to get the leader of the enemy forces, al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden. Do you remember we asked the brutal Taliban who ran the country to turn Osama over to us. They refused? Had they we may not have gone there.

Having decided to go in did anyone think of how long we would have to stay there? Were we there to rebuild their country and change their culture? Are we to be there forever?

Syria, Russia, China and other areas we seem not to have any strategic plans. Everything is a surprise we deal with in an ad hoc manner. We have not mapped out all of the eventualities that may happen if we take one action rather than another. The prototypical example of our thinking was the time when we were going to lob missiles at Assad in Syria because he had crossed the red line. The president went to Congress and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved our attack. Within a week of that he changed his mind.

Why wasn’t the U.S. prepared to demand that Assad remove all his chemical weapons rather than waiting for Russian to step forward and press that demand? By caving to the Russians we insured the survival of their friend Assad. The U.S. is still waiting for Assad to step down a year or so after our president predicted his departure and as we wait with Russia’s help he gets stronger.

Now we have another bomb lurking that we are not preparing for. This will be worse than anything that we have faced if we don’t anticipate it happening and take the necessary drastic steps to prevent it. (I know drastic steps are so un-American) But to do this we have to have people in place who will not only anticipate this happening but will be willing to take extraordinary steps to stop this danger lurking only hours away in West Africa..

This event, if it unfolds, has the abillity to change the way we live. I suggest it is time to be very alert and do some stocking up on foods and water. You want to be able to isolate yourself for up to several months to avoid contact with other people if the experts are wrong.

You know I speak of the Ebola virus outbreak which is the deadliest in history having infected over 1200 and killed over 600.  There is no cure for Ebola. It has killed the doctors and health care workers who have been helping the victims in the remote parts of Africa.

It may already be in America. An American doctor who is sick with it is confined to Liberia which has closed all its borders. His family members who were living with him have come back to America.  Rather than being quarantined, they are being asked to monitor themselves.

Another American worker is sick in Monrovia.

One person carrying the virus has died in Nigeria.  Another who may have been carrying the virus has flown from Ghana, to Togo, and then into Nigeria. Officials are trying to track down those on the flight with him who may have contacted the virus. They could be anywhere in the world at this time.

No one knows how the virus originates. There are theories on how it is transmitted which is through contact with a person’s bodily fluids. The American disease prevention people, CDC, are down playing the risk to America. Although they agree it could be brought here, they suggest the chances for it spreading are minimal. In Africa they are taking it more seriously. 

Here is a good history of the virus.  It tells how it turns the internal organs to soup. It also mentions unlike what we are being told in the main media that it has the potential of airborne transmission (making it a biological weapon). It has been shown to be transmitted without contact.  Yet the experts in America remain blasé. Let’s hope they are right.