Monday, July 11, 2005
I think they called it "The bus that couldn't slow down"
Bombs on buses and trains have been part of modern terrorism for a while, and they're going to be here to stay, and Americans should prepare to accept the fact that it's going to happen here sooner or later. But despite this, all the TV news coverage that I saw about the London bombings focused on 'what can be done to prevent a similar attack on the US.'
Well, I'll tell you- nothing. A lot of people have been saying that the federal government hasn't spent enough money on public transportation security. I think what people don't realize is that we've wasted billions of dollars on airplane security, but that public transit security is doing about as well as we can expect it. After a bus or train gets blown up in the U.S., that's when the U.S. will beef up security. That's how our society works. We spent billions of dollars on airline security after 9/11, even though 9/11 itself solved the airline security problem to a large degree. No one will ever try and take over an airplane again, especially not when there are other targets. And as Israel can probably tell us, there's not a whole lot you can do to prevent bombs on buses at the bus, train, or station level.
If anything, I'd say that the london and madrid bombings are proof that they could be attacking the US, but they simply didn't want to at that particular time. And of course by 'they', I mean those faceless and nameless terrorists who we should all be on the lookout for. I'm sure that the news organizations think they are raising the alarm by saying "buses and trains could be next", but is that really news?
Ahhh, whatever. there's a million targets in the U.S., and people can try and sound the alarm on all of them (the water supply! the power plants! public transit! bridges! oil refineries! hmmm, maybe I am making a to-do list right now) but the simple fact is that you can't prevent an individual (or group of individuals) from doing anything, especially if they're willing to die for that cause. And especially not if you want to preserve individual liberties at the same time. Actually, there's an idea! We could force everyone to get totally naked before they board and public transit vehicle! Or even better, let's not let anyone bring anything anywhere they are going- it would have the added benefit of boosting our consumer spending rates because everyone would have to buy new clothes, toothbrushes, and computers wherever they went!
It's been almost 4 years since 9/11 (of course, if you listened to Bush's security speech a couple weeks ago he makes it seem like yesterday), and yet I think that's still not enough time. And what I mean by 'enough' is that if another attack happened, Americans everywhere would go apeshit, shutting down whatever it is that gets attacked, rounding up thousands of people everywhere, sending the economy into the tubes and escalating "the war in Iraq" into "the war on the Middle East". Maybe I'm the one who's actually guilty of paranoia here. But I don't think so- I think I have a totally normal, rational fear of genuine American stupidity.
The last thing I want to imply is that the terrorists are 'winning', though. Even though the US might curtail some civil liberties with stuff like Patriot Act II, that's not what they're after. Osama doesn't think to himself "I'm living in a cave, but at least the US is a virtual police state now!" If anything, he's just going to exacerbate the tensions between Islam and the West. And in that case, everyone loses. But I don't think the terrorists really think things through any better than anyone else, although the eternity in paradise with 70 virgins seems pretty enticing (are they eternally virgins too, though?)
Well, anyway, thanks for reading Your Thoughts Exactly, where every post you read could be our last!
Well, I'll tell you- nothing. A lot of people have been saying that the federal government hasn't spent enough money on public transportation security. I think what people don't realize is that we've wasted billions of dollars on airplane security, but that public transit security is doing about as well as we can expect it. After a bus or train gets blown up in the U.S., that's when the U.S. will beef up security. That's how our society works. We spent billions of dollars on airline security after 9/11, even though 9/11 itself solved the airline security problem to a large degree. No one will ever try and take over an airplane again, especially not when there are other targets. And as Israel can probably tell us, there's not a whole lot you can do to prevent bombs on buses at the bus, train, or station level.
If anything, I'd say that the london and madrid bombings are proof that they could be attacking the US, but they simply didn't want to at that particular time. And of course by 'they', I mean those faceless and nameless terrorists who we should all be on the lookout for. I'm sure that the news organizations think they are raising the alarm by saying "buses and trains could be next", but is that really news?
Ahhh, whatever. there's a million targets in the U.S., and people can try and sound the alarm on all of them (the water supply! the power plants! public transit! bridges! oil refineries! hmmm, maybe I am making a to-do list right now) but the simple fact is that you can't prevent an individual (or group of individuals) from doing anything, especially if they're willing to die for that cause. And especially not if you want to preserve individual liberties at the same time. Actually, there's an idea! We could force everyone to get totally naked before they board and public transit vehicle! Or even better, let's not let anyone bring anything anywhere they are going- it would have the added benefit of boosting our consumer spending rates because everyone would have to buy new clothes, toothbrushes, and computers wherever they went!
It's been almost 4 years since 9/11 (of course, if you listened to Bush's security speech a couple weeks ago he makes it seem like yesterday), and yet I think that's still not enough time. And what I mean by 'enough' is that if another attack happened, Americans everywhere would go apeshit, shutting down whatever it is that gets attacked, rounding up thousands of people everywhere, sending the economy into the tubes and escalating "the war in Iraq" into "the war on the Middle East". Maybe I'm the one who's actually guilty of paranoia here. But I don't think so- I think I have a totally normal, rational fear of genuine American stupidity.
The last thing I want to imply is that the terrorists are 'winning', though. Even though the US might curtail some civil liberties with stuff like Patriot Act II, that's not what they're after. Osama doesn't think to himself "I'm living in a cave, but at least the US is a virtual police state now!" If anything, he's just going to exacerbate the tensions between Islam and the West. And in that case, everyone loses. But I don't think the terrorists really think things through any better than anyone else, although the eternity in paradise with 70 virgins seems pretty enticing (are they eternally virgins too, though?)
Well, anyway, thanks for reading Your Thoughts Exactly, where every post you read could be our last!
# posted by Stuart @ 3:24 PM 
