>>Since a good conspiracy is an unprovable one...I do find it odd, however, that several years before 9/11, a foreign leader (Pakistan, I think) offered up Osama to the US, who flatly refused.  Oops.

Part of the problem that was foreseen was that prior to the “War on Terrorism”, terror suspects were treated as criminals afforded all rights within the U.S. Justice system. What could he have been held on? How soon before a high-profile defense attorney would have him sprung for lack of direct evidence? Then what?

9/11 events changed all that. Regardless of your opinion of GWB, it was a correct decision to essentially declare war on all countries who sponsor or harbor terrorists. Afghanistan was a start. Iraq was next (for those who think this was about getting our hand on a vast oil supply, have you seen gas prices, lately?). I notice Libya has gotten the message. Who’s next? Syria? Iran? North Korea? France?

As far as geocaching is concerned, Americans SHOULD be at a heightened level of AWARENESS. Why was there a cache container at Disneyland? Did the cache owner have permission from the landowner? Doubtful. Perhaps the proliferation of urban caches should remind people that perhaps the best place for a cache is in the middle of nowhere.

As far as civil liberties are concerned, show me someone that is rotting in a U.S. prison without 1)due process, or 2)habeas corpus, that was not trained in a terrorist training camp. The Patriot Act allows law enforcement with a warrant to retrieve the library records of a suspect. Oh the humanity! Librarians went nuts! Civil liberties were on the verge of disappearing! But there was due process. And if you had a suspect that was researching bomb-making materials at the local tax-payer funded house of books, wouldn’t that be evidence you would want to use in a trial? Don’t librarians use record-keeping to charge you late fees? But that’s okay, though.

Admittedly, there are circumstances in which security is overblown. Been to the airport lately? How about the Hoover Dam? Both are ridiculously ‘over-secure’ for one threat-type but completely blind to others (I won’t explain that statement, you either understand it or you don’t)

In closing, more geocaches in the Far West Valley!!!

Bill