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What's going to stop a terrorist from walking into a mall or a busy skyscaper at the bottom floor and doing the same thing?
Sounds like you've given that some thought Cosmic.
What's going to stop a terrorist from walking into a mall or a busy skyscaper at the bottom floor and doing the same thing?
I don't know about that, but even though a small bomb in the Alamodome would only take out so many people nearby, the resulting chaos and stampede would likely kill dozens more. A few mall bombs during Christmas shopping season could cripple our economy.
It seems so easy, and yet it hasn't happened, despite comparatively relaxed security measures in these places. Are terrorists so stupid that their imagination is limited to airplane attacks? Or is the threat of terrorism, in the air and elsewhere, maybe, a little less significant than we're making it out to be?
preconceive - for form (as an opinion) prior to actual knowledge or experience
No need have have a preconceived bias.
These dudes fit what's called a "profile"
http://war .blogspot.com/2010/11/terrorist-fail.html
Are 'terrorists' more dangerous than how we react to them?
A TSA agent had just felt up my balls as I boarded a plane. I felt seriously ing violated but I needed to board that red eye so I kept my mouth shut and got myself molested in the interest of 'getting where I needed to be in a harsh economy'. I handed over my boarding card and got directed to my seat. I stuck my carry on luggage into the overhead compartment. I chit chatted with the random guy who sat next to me. Both of us were uneasy as we whipped out our laptops. After all, either of us could have a strip of semtex explosive instead of a lithium battery installed. Not that the TSA would know any better. And I realized...
Airport security is theater.
The necessary fiction of modern life.
I then came to a sudden realization as I tested my flotation device, that if I were an actual terrorist boarding a flight in any American airport, why would I waste my time trying to fool the TSA and smuggle a 'bomb' on board a plane when I could cause far more havoc by simply taking the same bomb and walking to the busiest local shopping mall, tossing my bomb in a rubbish bin at the food court and walking slowly away.
BOOM!
The 'terrorists' have just made every shopping facility in America a no go area. The greatest hit to a consumer economy ever! Why, if the terrorist threat is so real, are soft targets like shopping malls not blowing up every week? A true terrorist would simply bypass flying and blow up soft civilian targets. If Al Qaida are so prevalent, and the war on terror is real, then why are Al Qaida wasting their time smuggling bombs onto airplanes?
There are so many soft targets that could do far more economic damage.
Why are they not happening?
Oh , as the author of this entire piece, I suddenly realize how gets skewed.
What's going to stop them from walking into a mall or busy skyscraper at the bottom floor and doing the same thing if we adopt sane airline screening policies?
Nothing. Why? Because we're not talking about malls or skyscrapers. We're talking about airplanes.
Yeah, you and CosmicCowboy are bucking for a visit from Janet Incompetano and her rubber-gloved goons.
Just the nature of the design...a couple pounds of C4, take out two towers and that is going down hard. It would kill thousands.
So posing a question as to why terrorists would hit logical targets where we have NO security means I should be a prime candidate for a federal investigation? Are you really that dense? Did you also happen to notice that I didn't write the above article?
Or how about our water supply? Iv'e got a 2" well at my house that goes straight into the aquifer about 1/2 mile from two different major SAWS pumping stations...pump a couple of truckloads of nasty down there and you could kill a bunch of people and put San Antonio out of water for decades...
I had planned on taking my daughter up to MI to visit family for a week in December. I have to go, but since I found out they use the scanners in the SA airport I've been seriously reconsidering the wisdom of her making the trip also. Only a couple of weeks left to make the decision.
As stated in that video clip, you can look at your ticket and see if your child is selected for random check. If so, you can request that the ticket be changed. It's worth a try, right?
Calm down, I was just playing off the last line in your post...
Just a bit sensitive, aren't we?
This is ridiculous. For the "privilege" of flying, we have to relinquish the most private of our rights, without reasonable su ion?
"Nobody likes having their 4th amendement violated going through a security line, but the truth of the matter is , uh, we're going to have to do it." (Former TSA administrator)
Which is why police/military/etc are allowed to shoot people trying to mess with a water supply. (After proper warning, of course.)
How is profiling suspects in airports going to protect other areas of heavy civilian concentration, Yoni?
Yeah, because I'm sure THAT won't set off a million alarm bells.
Okay, I'll type slower for you.
We're.not.talking.about.securing.other.areas.of.he avy.civilian.concentration. We're.talking.about.TSA.practices.and.airport.secu rity.
You raise a good point. Air travel isn't a right. But, with government involved in private enterprise, the way they are, I think they're obligated to afford you some cons utional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.
However, if the Airline companies were left to provide their own security, they could have you walk on your hands, naked, in order to board a flight.
How will profiling at the aiport make our general population safer? What will stop a terrorist from detonating a large bomb in the center of an airport before he gets to the security checkpoint?
If they wished to go out of business in a week, sure.
You're right, but, you miss my point.
Again, we're not talking about our general population. This conversation is about the safety of flying...not walking into a mall...or walking into an airport...but, getting on an airplane and flying.
And, in that respect, profiling -- one of many techniques used by Israel -- seems to work.
From what I've read,
the TSA scanners are not for "random" screeners. They are not optional at a lot of airports now. All passengers have to go through them, unless you want the pat down instead.
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