Lessons of United 93

[Jim]

These things are subject to opinion' date=' of course, and "more difficult" is a reasonable point. The main concern I have (which isn't necessarily directed at you) is that airport security is not something we should view in a mission-accomplished manner. The key ingredients of passenger and baggage screening, and the air marshall program, are in poor condition and not only aren't improving, but are giving us a false sense of security. We're better-protected from madmen and irate businessmen, but terrorist are neither of those.

 

I'm an optimist, though, and I think you have to take these things in steps. Continued focus can lead to improvement. This was, IMO, the primary benefit of the 9/11 Commission Report, more than the specific recommendations it made.[/quote']

 

Oh, I completely agree that we should NEVER say mission accomplished about any type of security. When playing defense, you can't become complacent. Fortunately, we are not limited to defense and I do believe that some elements of offense helps account for our success.

 

However, for the reasons I think we both agree, it is difficult to see a terrorist group investing resources in this particular type of attack. Box knifes and fake bombs probably only worked once. Of course, I wouldn't say this if I were in charge of airport security. I'd want people to stay hyper alert.

 

My real fear is one of two scenarios: (i) border penetration followed by low tech strikes against soft targets in the heart land where security may not be as tight and (ii) WMDs. I doubt the WMD threat will every dissipate and, in fact, as Bascule's singularity nears (or as tech continues to ramp up along an exponential curve, even if not to a singularity), we will have a highly unstable situation.

 

While we should remain free and vigilant, I also think it would not be wise for our enemies to underestimate our capabilities.

[ecoli]

I'm more wary of number i, but especially because of the possibility of a combination of 1 and 2.

 

It's just another reason why we should secure our Mexican boarder.

[Jim]

I'm more wary of number i' date=' but especially because of the possibility of a combination of 1 and 2.

 

It's just another reason why we should secure our Mexican boarder.[/quote']

 

Whatever we decide with respect to the number of immigrants we need in our workforce, there is no legitimate argument for the status quo.