Bob's Links and Rants

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Friday, August 11, 2006

Battling stupidities

If, and it's a big if, the story about the alleged terror plot in England is true, then there are two really stupid groups of people competing in the "war on terror." First off, if you were a terrorist wanting to blow up a plane using household liquids before yesterday, apparently the only way you could be stopped would have been to plan it for a year, with e-mails flying about and meetings and such to give the keystone cops a chance to track you down. As the Financial Times points out (via Juan Cole):
British security officials suspected the innovative use of liquid explosives smuggled on board could have evaded airport detection devices. They said the method of attack, if used to blow up an aircraft over the ocean on a flight from the US to the UK, could potentially have been used repeatedly because its detection would have been all but impossible after the event.
So, they could have had their one top-secret meeting in Pakistan where you discuss the use of liquid explosives, then disperse to the far corners of the earth--and sooner or later planes start blowing up. In my opinion, the terror would be even greater with the uncertainty--look at the fear generated by the snipers in the DC area, where "ordinary" multiple killings go practically unnoticed. The only thing that could have stopped them, apparently, was attempting to synchronize their attacks. I realize this is an al Qaeda trademark, but it makes you think that they like their big shows much more than they hate us for our freedoms.

But as dumb as these alleged plotters apparently were, it pales in comparison with the US and British officials fighting the "war on terror." Apparently, there is little secret about how to make liquid explosives out of common household chemicals. Surely many people at the CIA and FBI know how it's done, and are aware that many criminals and terrorists must know it as well. So WHY DO THEY WAIT UNTIL YESTERDAY TO TAKE STEPS TO PREVENT THEIR USAGE ON AIRPLANES??

Bush said yesterday that "This country is safer than it was prior to 9/11. We've taken a lot of measures to protect the American people." Yeah? Like what? You apparently didn't look into many of the easiest ways to blow up airplanes and how to stop them from happening. And haven't you learned anything from Iraq? Having people stand in really long lines does not make them safer (third paragraph).