Friday, August 11, 2006

Forget about banning liquids ...

Patrick Smith's wisdom on airport security.
Ultimately, protecting commercial aircraft from terrorism is not the job of airport security, it's a job for police departments, federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The apparent plot at Heathrow Airport was not unraveled by the keen eye of a concourse screener; it was unraveled through careful investigation behind the scenes. By the time any attacker makes it to the metal detector, chances are it's already too late. There are too many ways to outwit that final line of defense.

No matter, here we go initiating yet another absurd crackdown to the detriment of millions of innocent travelers. Just as confiscating corkscrews didn't make us safer after Sept. 11, so banning liquids isn't going to make us safer now. All the while, the true weapon of mass destruction is the imagination and resilience of those who wish to harm us -- a fact we continue to ignore at our own peril.
[Links to some of his previous articles on airport security here.]

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What is sad is that while the actual plan was foiled, they were successful. Probably beyond the terrorist wildest dreams.
Sean

Fr. Gaurav Shroff said...

Well their aim is to sow terror; their ultimate name is to destroy the West. However, it still is much better than having a few thousand people blown to bits over the Atlantic.