US Security Needs Anger Some Europeans

The Guardian (UK) ^ | 1-8-2004 | Jill Lawless

[Byron_the_Aussie]

...BBQ & beer for all at my house at 4:00 PM today...

He he he. Hey, great pic of you and your Recon Team, mate. Cheers, By

[Byron_the_Aussie]

..why should I tolerate having my car searched, my orifices searched, my toenail clippers confiscated, etc. etc. when we allow our borders to remain unsecured, a ridiculous anti-profiling PC-run-amok mindset to rule over common sense, and visas to still be granted to foreigners from countries that sponsor terrorism?...

Well that's the question, isn't it? You've said it all. I guess the answer is that these regulations are more about CYA, PC, and make-work, than about commonsense. The single greatest defense we could have against hijackers would be if all passengers were prepared to use the Todd Beamer response. Of course, that means individual responsibility, rather than nanny state dependence. As to sky marshalls, I have no strong opinion either way. Armed pilots, ditto, with the slight reservation that a crew member might want to go out in a blaze of glory like the Fedex worker or the suicidal JAL pilot. It seems to me that armoured cabin doors are the best defensive option. The pilots keep the plane flying and the passengers take care of their own defense. All the best, Byron

[Byron_the_Aussie]

...I would have to ask how long it would take to stick a firecracker into a block of C4...

Not long, I guess. But it would certainly be a challenge, to...retrieve..the components, and assemble something like that in the toilet queue.

[Byron_the_Aussie]

...I trust that those entrusted with our safety have a good reason for their actions...

They do. Job security- their own.

[Arpege92]

Harmless bickering, no long lasting damage. Perhaps my attitude comes from the fact that I have been a non-smoker for nine days now. I do miss my cancer sticks but I'm not turning back now.

[blam]

"Perhaps my attitude comes from the fact that I have been a non-smoker for nine days now."

LOL. My attempt to quit again this year failed 6 days ago.

[WhaddaboutThisOne?]

"Well, I know I'm getting a bit bombastic, here. But what is it with all these posters who'll gratefully accept any nanny state stupidity that comes down the pipe? "Please sir, may I have another?" I've spent the Christmas break reading some shattering books on tyranny- Richard and Sabrina Wurmbrands' accounts, and Anne Applebaum's Gulag, amongst others. Not to draw too long a bow, but this 'the state is always right' mantra is how it all starts. "

Thumbs up to you, Byron.

The majority of the security measures that have been implemented at airports since 9/11 have been merely cosmetic, to look as if something's changed. Bull pucky. What good do measures such as making some lady drink her own bottle of expressed breastmilk in order to show that it's not some deadly substance do, when you can drive within 200 feet of an international jet being loaded up, and get even closer if you have a pair of wire cutters?

I can already hear the "Sieg heils!" being shouted in some of the responses here.

[Hotdog]

Hey...Remember when France said " No, you can't use our air space to bomb Libia"?...well you can't use ours to bomb us either!

[Arpege92]

Please don't ask me how I have managed to not smoke for nine days because I don't have the foggiest idea. I know I crave it and I catch myself reaching for cigarettes that used to sit right next to my computer.

My hubby is happy that I have finally quit and when my doctor finds out, he's going to be happy as well. It's the first thing he asks me everytime I go in for a check up and I was beginning to run out of excuses. I can't wait to tell the doctor, just so I can see his reaction....it should be real funny!

Anyway....my best advice is quit when you are ready to quit. I used to say I will quit for my hubby or I will quit for the doctor but it never worked. Once I made up my mind to do it for myself, I quit COLD TURKEY. No patches, no pills and I stay away from high calorie foods too. Good luck.

[MattAMiller]

This is a depressing thread. Is there no one here besides Byron who's going to protest this attitude that all those who don't uncomplainingly submit to all our demands deserve to be blown out the sky?

There are reasonable security measures and there are unreasonable ones. People have a right to argue about where that line lies. Tom Ridge's word is not holy writ.

Asking people to not line up for the bathroom is ridiculous. I'd resent it. And so would the rest of you. This is not the way we ought to be using our power.

I have to think that the vast majority Americans are with me on this this. But thanks for doing your part to prop up that old ugly American stereotype folks.

[fr_freak]

The main point of my post was to convey that there are many things going on in reaction to the attacks and not all of them are worthwhile, but we recognize that things are not the same and will not be for quite some time. In fact, I don't want them to be normal. I don't want for us to go back to business as usual, not until I see Osama Bin Laden's f%#@*&g head on a spike, along with the heads of every person who ever aided, abetted, supported, or sympathized with the attackers.

I think that is where Americans and the rest of the world differ. For me it goes beyond fear of attack or desire for revenge. For me it is clear moral outrage that anyone would perpetrate such an attack. I would feel the same way if the attack had been on Sydney, London, or even, possibly, Paris. It is simply intolerable to me to think that there are people out there so sick and evil. I don't believe the reaction would be the same in Europe, or even anywhere else in the world (I don't know Australia well enough to say). The Europeans seem to be incapable of moral outrage, probably because they have become largely incapable of morality itself. So, after an attack on their citizens, or when they see an attack on ours, their priority seems to be to get back to normal and forget it ever happened, while ours is to set what is wrong to right again.

Don't confuse vigilance with fear. The people who populate this site, and others you hear about in the news all the time, have some activist tendencies, so thinking proactively is their nature. Speculating about whether a barge floating toward a power plant is loaded with explosives, anthrax, or whatever may seem fearful and paranoid to someone who is merely seeking to get back to normal, but to those of us dedicated to preventing such a heinous attack from ever reoccurring, it is simply a mental exercise.

[WhaddaboutThisOne?]

Asking people to not line up for the bathroom is ridiculous. I'd resent it. And so would the rest of you. This is not the way we ought to be using our power. I have to think that the vast majority Americans are with me on this this. But thanks for doing your part to prop up that old ugly American stereotype folks.

Agreed.

Re airport security, we should be taking a few pages from Israel's book, if we're really serious about improving security.