Bang for the Buck – Are we getting it with homeland security?
Over five years have passed since the events of September 11, 2001, but has security really improved? Various publications and agencies list accomplishments and achievements in thwarting possible terrorist and national security threats, but are the tens of billions of dollars spent in this country on ‘homeland’ security really making us more secure?
One has to look at the issue with a critical eye:
Airline security – are we safer flying today than we were 5 years ago?
Port security – are we adequately monitoring what items enter our country?
Industrial espionage – are we adequately monitoring what leaves our country?
Border and immigration security – do we know who is coming to and from the United States and whether they are a threat?
Let us consider some of issues in general. This is not intended to be an in-depth analysis of the problem but some ‘common sense’ thoughts about these issues. Today will address the first.
Airline Security:
Are you safer on a plane in the United States today than you were 5 years ago? Billions of dollars, the creation of a new or expanded agency in government, and increased costs for airlines and collectively citizens of the US have NOT really increased our safety. The frequency of incidents prior to 9-11 in the US was low and since 9-11 it has been low (exact numbers are immaterial to the discussion). A constantly elevated threat level, currently ignored by the vast majority of the American public, doesn’t really provide increased awareness for most citizens. It is the like the story of the boy who cried ‘Wolf!”- a few false episodes then people ignored him and when the wolf really appeared he was eaten. The same basic foundation exists for airline security.
CNN and the local news blast the public with ‘news’ about minor incidents in airports occurring around the US – minor, because they involve 1 or 2 people out of the millions passing through airports 24 hours a day and 365 days per year. There is intense scrutiny on ‘how’ this could happen. Public statements are made by various officials regarding the state of security in our nation’s airports – there is a lot of finger pointing, someone sometimes gets transferred or fired (but rarely if ever the person in charge) and the issue is forgotten until the next time it happens (a week or two later).
Recent tests by federal agents testing security at airports demonstrated that in the vast majority of attempts they were successful in smuggling weapons or bombs past TSA (Transportation Security Agency) screeners. Is this a failure of screening or does this demonstrate that someone who wants to defeat security can do so? Terrorists aren’t going to get on a plane with a rifle slung over their shoulder – they take security officers and the means to defeat security measures into account before they plan their act of violence. They will not use nail clippers, fingernail files or one-inch pocket knives to take over a plane. The fact that a bunch of terrorists with box cutters could successfully hijack 3 planes and fly them into buildings demonstrated American’s fear to get involved.
The heroic passengers of the fourth flight showed that when faced with the inevitable Americans CAN act to protect their own lives and their nation’s security. We are constantly bombarded by media, law enforcement, and politicians telling us that citizens should not take the law into their own hands. “The police are there to protect us.”
If you are robbed, assaulted or murdered can you successfully sue the police for failing to protect you? NO, and this has been tested many times. These supposedly ‘well meaning’ people want you to give up your rights to defend yourself and others in exchange for more laws to ‘protect you’.
Does a terrorist, who is certainly aware of laws proscribing terrorism and murder, say to himself or his coconspirators – “Oh, this is illegal, maybe I shouldn’t do it?” NO, terrorists and criminals don’t follow laws - that is why they ARE terrorists and criminals! Increased security makes it harder for them to carry out their acts. Putting it another way various security measures ‘increase the challenge of circumventing them.’ If they are determined and especially if they are willing to die to do it you can’t stop them all from trying.
Airline security is generally more than sufficient to stop the ‘average’ madman or disturbed individual. Numerous people are thwarted annually from significantly disrupting air travel and this demonstrates its’ effectiveness in achieving these goals. Setting goals that are not achievable but politically sound good (i.e. ‘no more terrorist attacks on US airlines’) are slogans for the masses but meaningless for preventing REAL terrorists from doing their evil deeds. They are more of a challenge, i.e. “I dare you to try,” to terrorists rather than deterrence. The only way to completely prevent terrorists from hijacking passenger planes is to ban airline travel altogether. There must be an acceptable median where there is enough security with the ability of ordinary citizens to travel freely in the greatest nation on earth. Let us dump the hype, political grandstanding, slogans, scare tactics, and calls for unachievable security goals. The terrorists WIN when our politicians push through excessive restrictions on the rights and liberties of all Americans. Only the honest citizen loses forever their rights and liberties one small step at a time. We need practical, cost effective, and freedom preserving measures applied to airline security before ‘The Land of the Free’ because the land of the not so free and still not so safe.
One has to look at the issue with a critical eye:
Airline security – are we safer flying today than we were 5 years ago?
Port security – are we adequately monitoring what items enter our country?
Industrial espionage – are we adequately monitoring what leaves our country?
Border and immigration security – do we know who is coming to and from the United States and whether they are a threat?
Let us consider some of issues in general. This is not intended to be an in-depth analysis of the problem but some ‘common sense’ thoughts about these issues. Today will address the first.
Airline Security:
Are you safer on a plane in the United States today than you were 5 years ago? Billions of dollars, the creation of a new or expanded agency in government, and increased costs for airlines and collectively citizens of the US have NOT really increased our safety. The frequency of incidents prior to 9-11 in the US was low and since 9-11 it has been low (exact numbers are immaterial to the discussion). A constantly elevated threat level, currently ignored by the vast majority of the American public, doesn’t really provide increased awareness for most citizens. It is the like the story of the boy who cried ‘Wolf!”- a few false episodes then people ignored him and when the wolf really appeared he was eaten. The same basic foundation exists for airline security.
CNN and the local news blast the public with ‘news’ about minor incidents in airports occurring around the US – minor, because they involve 1 or 2 people out of the millions passing through airports 24 hours a day and 365 days per year. There is intense scrutiny on ‘how’ this could happen. Public statements are made by various officials regarding the state of security in our nation’s airports – there is a lot of finger pointing, someone sometimes gets transferred or fired (but rarely if ever the person in charge) and the issue is forgotten until the next time it happens (a week or two later).
Recent tests by federal agents testing security at airports demonstrated that in the vast majority of attempts they were successful in smuggling weapons or bombs past TSA (Transportation Security Agency) screeners. Is this a failure of screening or does this demonstrate that someone who wants to defeat security can do so? Terrorists aren’t going to get on a plane with a rifle slung over their shoulder – they take security officers and the means to defeat security measures into account before they plan their act of violence. They will not use nail clippers, fingernail files or one-inch pocket knives to take over a plane. The fact that a bunch of terrorists with box cutters could successfully hijack 3 planes and fly them into buildings demonstrated American’s fear to get involved.
The heroic passengers of the fourth flight showed that when faced with the inevitable Americans CAN act to protect their own lives and their nation’s security. We are constantly bombarded by media, law enforcement, and politicians telling us that citizens should not take the law into their own hands. “The police are there to protect us.”
If you are robbed, assaulted or murdered can you successfully sue the police for failing to protect you? NO, and this has been tested many times. These supposedly ‘well meaning’ people want you to give up your rights to defend yourself and others in exchange for more laws to ‘protect you’.
Does a terrorist, who is certainly aware of laws proscribing terrorism and murder, say to himself or his coconspirators – “Oh, this is illegal, maybe I shouldn’t do it?” NO, terrorists and criminals don’t follow laws - that is why they ARE terrorists and criminals! Increased security makes it harder for them to carry out their acts. Putting it another way various security measures ‘increase the challenge of circumventing them.’ If they are determined and especially if they are willing to die to do it you can’t stop them all from trying.
Airline security is generally more than sufficient to stop the ‘average’ madman or disturbed individual. Numerous people are thwarted annually from significantly disrupting air travel and this demonstrates its’ effectiveness in achieving these goals. Setting goals that are not achievable but politically sound good (i.e. ‘no more terrorist attacks on US airlines’) are slogans for the masses but meaningless for preventing REAL terrorists from doing their evil deeds. They are more of a challenge, i.e. “I dare you to try,” to terrorists rather than deterrence. The only way to completely prevent terrorists from hijacking passenger planes is to ban airline travel altogether. There must be an acceptable median where there is enough security with the ability of ordinary citizens to travel freely in the greatest nation on earth. Let us dump the hype, political grandstanding, slogans, scare tactics, and calls for unachievable security goals. The terrorists WIN when our politicians push through excessive restrictions on the rights and liberties of all Americans. Only the honest citizen loses forever their rights and liberties one small step at a time. We need practical, cost effective, and freedom preserving measures applied to airline security before ‘The Land of the Free’ because the land of the not so free and still not so safe.
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