12.08.2005
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Keeping the barn door closed...
...now that the horse has escaped. This is the apparent message from the wretched overreaction to the killing of one (apparently) loony passenger who claimed to have a bomb on board (story here). The fact that the man did not have a bomb, but was (again, apparently) simply off his meds could not have been known by the air marshal who did the right thing by shooting him.
The marshal did the only reasonable thing he could have. He rendered the man incapable of setting of a bomb. Ever. After this, the only thing that should have happened is a check on who the dead man was, and a brief interview with all the passengers to see if there was any indication that the man was part of a wider, or any, plot.
However, in addition to this, what followed was classic government overkill. The marching of the passengers, hands on heads, as if they were all perps. The dramatic, and totally unnecessary, blowing up of the dead man's luggage. Uh, fellas, perhaps we could run it through one of our x-ray machines, and perhaps get some dogs to sniff it? Nope. Too easy. Let's blow it up; we like things that go boom.
Well, the inept and bloated Transportation Insecurity Agency had to appear to be doing something. What they will not do is profile, thereby saving the 99.99% rest of us from being hasseled. What they may now be starting to do, a little too late, is to actually screen people by their appearance and behavior.
What the TSA has not done is to actually look for terrorists, as opposed to looking for sharp objects. Not that sharp objects and guns aren't all too easy to get past the minimum wage slackers who staff most security checkpoints. Hey, you get what you pay for. What we've gotten is the outward appearance of commercial aviation security.
Until some schmuck forgets to take his meds and gets blown away for being nuts. Poor bastard, but at least the message is broadcast: our marshals may not know any unarmed combat, but they'll blow you away as soon as look at you if you say the wrong thing.
The marshal did the only reasonable thing he could have. He rendered the man incapable of setting of a bomb. Ever. After this, the only thing that should have happened is a check on who the dead man was, and a brief interview with all the passengers to see if there was any indication that the man was part of a wider, or any, plot.
However, in addition to this, what followed was classic government overkill. The marching of the passengers, hands on heads, as if they were all perps. The dramatic, and totally unnecessary, blowing up of the dead man's luggage. Uh, fellas, perhaps we could run it through one of our x-ray machines, and perhaps get some dogs to sniff it? Nope. Too easy. Let's blow it up; we like things that go boom.
Well, the inept and bloated Transportation Insecurity Agency had to appear to be doing something. What they will not do is profile, thereby saving the 99.99% rest of us from being hasseled. What they may now be starting to do, a little too late, is to actually screen people by their appearance and behavior.
What the TSA has not done is to actually look for terrorists, as opposed to looking for sharp objects. Not that sharp objects and guns aren't all too easy to get past the minimum wage slackers who staff most security checkpoints. Hey, you get what you pay for. What we've gotten is the outward appearance of commercial aviation security.
Until some schmuck forgets to take his meds and gets blown away for being nuts. Poor bastard, but at least the message is broadcast: our marshals may not know any unarmed combat, but they'll blow you away as soon as look at you if you say the wrong thing.
posted by Jack Rich at 2:46 PM
I was born, grew up, and went to school in the Bronx, New York -- on the wrong side of the
tracks. Got the chance to go to college, so instead of joining the NYPD (the obvious career choice at
that time and place), I became an engineer. Spent
some years designing things that go boom (or things that take things that go boom to their destinations...), principally for our military.
Also took an interesting career turn and for some years was in charge of counter-terrorism for my agency...so I learned something about guns. And when to use them.
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