Re:Hitchens: The truth about airplane security measures
by kelnos on Thursday December 31, 2009 @05:57AM
(#1024117)
I honestly don't know. I'm not a security or explosives expert. Maybe you can't defend against an attack like that.
But maybe that's ok. Maybe preserving our privacy and avoiding making us all feel like criminals while we're traveling is worth a successful attack every now and then.
Yes, I know: easy for me to say, not having been on that plane, and never having lost anyone to terrorism. But I'd argue that the people who have been victims of terrorism (directly or indirectly) are way too close to the situation to be able to make a decision like that for the rest of us.
What is so magical about planes that make them such huge terrorist targets? How many passengers are on your average commercial flight? 200? 300? Hell, you could kill that many people just by setting off a bomb in the pre-security section of a decent-sized airport on a moderately-busy day -- and it would be comparatively trivial to accomplish.
But maybe that's ok. Maybe preserving our privacy and avoiding making us all feel like criminals while we're traveling is worth a successful attack every now and then.
Yes, I know: easy for me to say, not having been on that plane, and never having lost anyone to terrorism. But I'd argue that the people who have been victims of terrorism (directly or indirectly) are way too close to the situation to be able to make a decision like that for the rest of us.
What is so magical about planes that make them such huge terrorist targets? How many passengers are on your average commercial flight? 200? 300? Hell, you could kill that many people just by setting off a bomb in the pre-security section of a decent-sized airport on a moderately-busy day -- and it would be comparatively trivial to accomplish.