Fact: Groups employing terror and bent on affecting the United States, its allies and their policies will find the seams in security. Therefore, (U. S. Government) do not invent measures too easy to circumvent. Get ahead of the chess game, understand the seams and reduce the seam size with countermeasures. Do not announce these countermeasures. This does not need to become the National Security version of whack-a-mole, a purely reactionary response.
Sometimes the more remote the individual is from Washington, D. C. their commentary is more interesting and often more accurate on some issues. The following in italics is from “The Forum of Fargo/Moorhead and discusses the recent attempt to bomb a Delta Airliner originating in Amsterdam.
First, it was not successful. The would-be bomber was subdued by airplane crew and passengers.
True, but remember the passengers subdued the individual after the failed attempt, and did not prevent the attempt. This does not diminish the response, just puts it in proper order.
Second, the gaps in airline passenger screening were in the Netherlands. That nation and others moved quickly to employ new technology for screening passengers bound for the U.S. from specific nations.
This is also true and bravo to the Netherlands for improving their security and not becoming another Athens, Greece.
Third, Abdulmutallab’s failed attack suggests al-Qaida has been weakened by the multi-faceted war on terror, and has been reduced to sending relatively incompetent people into suicide missions.
On the face of it this would seem true, but it is likely more hopeful than true. Underestimating the strength, flexibility and adaptability of al Qaeda is a mistake. A more likely interpretation is that improvements in U. S. security (despite the current grumblings) are better and originating from a more porous foreign airport would increase the group’s chances of causing more havoc. The last airplane related attack originated in the U. S. this may also indicate al Qaeda’s lack of knowledge regarding airport security in this country and an unwillingness to test the system. It is also may be easier to originate the bomb overseas and fly the bomber directly in the U. S rather than establish a domestic capability.
Another consideration in the Terrorist Chess Game, it is a diversion. We will now expend time and resources on tightening passenger security to the detriment of cargo security. This also means we will pay attention to airlines to the detriment of other target areas.
Fourth, the incident will generate congressional probes and self-evaluations by agencies, all of it designed to tighten up the system.
Americans should not assume homeland security is a failure because of one aborted attack. There has not been a successful terrorist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11. Rather, scores of attempted attacks have been foiled. We hear about some, not others.
Still, there are no guarantees. No system designed and operated by human beings can be perfect. No system facing a flexible enemy that embraces terrorist techniques, including suicide bombers, can stop every breach of security. That’s the world in which we live these days.
Congress will hold hearings; they will turn their attention to possibly unproductive lines of investigation and very likely will miss where terror employing groups will really strike next.
The Forum of Fargo/Moorhead
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/264765/
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