It is not defeatism, its inevitable we have hard times ahead, Gas stations in my neigborhood are shutting down, or only allowing emergency vehicles to be refueled. with gasoline heading towards 5$ a gallon, time are only getting rougher. I dont know about anybody else but its been pretty tough in the past year. So many lost jobs only to take lower paying jobs, outsourcing has forced factory workers into unemployment, my community is definetly limping, and we are only seeing the begining the worse is yet to come.

I have been very concerned that an event such has occurred with Katrina would only heighten the effective timing of another major attack by terrorists on America...........

The whole country is and will remain effected at various levels as a result of this disaster.

Oil refined to Gas........is the life blood of our society...........we are a hydrocarbon American with an economy and way of life that balances on the narrow point of an inverted pyramide we call gasoline......

Any distruption this this life blood can create real and/or panic driven shortages which can take weeks and/or months to stablize back into an efficient supply/demand ratio................until then, any inflated prices as a result of those shortages will contribute to the rising cost of all transported consumer goods and could potentially create panic runs on them as well........

It is within this kind of environment that America could be delievered a crippling blow through the detonation of a nuclear device in places such as NYC and Wash DC............

I believe the open pore of our borders has allowed inflitration of terrorist cells in this country that along with smuggled weapons make another strike on this country a real possiblity before the year is out...........and that is my observation before Katrina became a reality............

.........Now that Katrina has struck and caused such distruction to the soft underbelly of our oil refinery capacity in the gulf region it only can hasten the possiblity of an American Horshima...........and if that would happen I would fear that our relatiation to such an event in the middle east could threaten all mankind in a major nuclear exchange where escalation of engagement of such weapons is a real possiblity......

I believe that the writing is on the wall for middle class America, the gap will only keep widening. Lower and upper, I know where most of us average income folk will end up. It may be kind of refreshing not seeing everyone with a cell phone in their ear and taking so much pride in the vehicle they drive.

didnt we have enough earthquakes and hurricanes and floodings in imaginable proportions to take down America? America has encountered and survived many disasters and enemies around the world had ample time to take such advantage.

I'd just like to address again the fact that no one here is claiming that this single storm is going to be responsible for the downfall of America....

What's being mentioned here, that must not be being communicated effectively, is that given pre-existing situations leading up to this storm, our nation has been in some struggling times - no one can deny that....unless you're in denial of course

Adding the after-effects of this storm, things are only going to get a little worse...

And the entire point behind this thread, which has veered somewhat off topic, is - What happens if, given our less-than-adequate state, we are struck fiercely by another terrorist attack? - A lot of our attention, relief resources, troops and money are being funneled into Katrina's aftermath - We are a nation with our back's turned in some respects....

Simply put - What are the chances? Are there any chances? Where could they strike? Would they strike? If not, what reasons are you prepared to give in support of your doubt?

In a nutshell...Our great nation has many critical priorities stretched over many many thousands of miles - some of which, leave us vulnerable to situations we cannot foresee....We have enemies who are awaiting the right moment to strike.....Is it now?

I'm telling ya folks....This window keeps getting opened wider and wider by the minute as this situation unfolds....

You can't break the donations down like that......provide the full donation amount by our government and people.

Compare our population of 280 million to those countries you mentioned, of course your figures will show the average lower.