One angry young man with about three ounces (around 80 grams) of explosive material, $2,000, and a pair of specially tailored underwear has completely disrupted the US aviation system.Matthew Yglesias echoes similar sentiments:
It does not even matter that he failed to blow up the plane.
The costs associated with preventing the next attack from succeeding will measure in the tens of billions of dollars - new technologies, added law enforcement and security personnel on and off planes, lost revenues for airline companies and more expensive plane tickets, and of course, the expansion of the 'war on terror' full on to yet another country, Yemen.
Insofar as stepped-up security makes flying both more expensive and more annoying, and therefore pushes more people to drive long distances, we’re going to cost lives rather than save them. And at the end of the day, you have to understand that terrorists are not going to weaken America by killing us all a hundred at a time with bombs. They do much more to weaken America by induces us to waste money and strangle our economy.I'll add more on this later after I dig through some more links.
*Update - A doctoral student at Rutgers who was saying goodbye to his girlfriend.
Good points. About a year ago I rode the train for the first time in years -- the Acela from NYC to DC. I was amazed that I was able to walk on with no screening. Can't imagine that lasting long now.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I took a flight after Sept. 11, 2001 I said to myself: "The terrorists have won".
ReplyDeleteI flew once since then. I probably won't fly any more. Last year I drove to a convention in Las Vegas(1800 miles) rather than put up with the ridiculous 'security measures' the legislators and bureaucrats think are working.
In the meantime,everyone who should know better is completely ignoring intelligence showing that certain people are dangerous and should be watched closely.
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.--Ben Franklin
@Pete You are right. I have a feeling that trains are on the bad guys schedule of transportation modes to cripple by causing increased 'security' there as well.
I think the changes Obama made of requiring people from certain nations to get enhanced screening is good. However, I can understand why we don't want to profile on race, age and gender. Is it any better if cops do it to drivers on the highway?
ReplyDeleteI realize this post is just observations, but other than profiling, what are some solutions?
Does anyone know whether his concoction would have actually taken down the airline had he mixed it up correctly?
ReplyDelete