Theatre of the Absurd
My sister is a foot soldier in the war against terrorists. She works in security at a major U.S. airport, where she screens baggage in transit from Canada to other U.S. cities. Many of these bags contain bottles of maple syrup, which evidently resemble bombs. Whenever a bottle is detected by a screening machine, it must be personally examined by security personnel to ensure that it’s harmless. The system works! No bomb disguised as maple syrup has ever entered the United States.
This is not simply security theatre, as some people call it. This is Security Theatre of the Absurd.
One day, our grandchildren will marvel at our preposterous approach to self-defence. They’ll wonder why we squandered billions on useless security measures. They’ll be amazed at how we harassed millions of ordinary citizens and made flying as unpleasant as possible. They’ll shake their heads at our naive faith in high-tech fixes to stop low-tech killers. How do we catch crotch-bombers? By buying full-body scanners, at $200,000 apiece!
Airport security is a “show designed to make people feel better,” security expert Bruce Schneier says. It might catch stupid terrorists, but certainly not smart ones. He says only two things have made flying safer since 9/11: the reinforcement of cockpit doors and the fact that passengers now know how to resist hijackers.
But in the face of seeming failure, the authorities must be seen to take decisive action. This is the reason why those of you with weak bladders are now advised to take the train.
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Philanthropist Says:
Kill them. Instead of inviting enemy to live with us and then watching them, kill them. Post-war terrorists in Europe were shot to death, it worked.
Posted on January 5th, 2010 at 9:41 am
Mac Says:
It’s Bush’s fault, I tell ya! He invented maple syrup bombs!!
Posted on January 5th, 2010 at 9:47 pm