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What would we ever do without Big Sis looking out for us though?
And so long as the once-cherished freedom to travel without hands down your wife's pants is consensually and sheepishly relenquished, doesnt that make it perfectly a-ok?
Schneier on Security
November 29, 2010
Causing Terror on the Cheap
Total cost for the Yemeni printer cartridge bomb plot: $4200.
"Two Nokia mobiles, $150 each, two HP printers, $300 each, plus shipping, transportation and other miscellaneous expenses add up to a total bill of $4,200. That is all what Operation Hemorrhage cost us," the magazine said.
Even if you add in costs for training, recruiting, logistics, and everything else, that's still remarkably cheap. And think of how many times that we spent in security in the aftermath.
As it turns out, this is bin Ladin's plan:
In his October 2004 address to the American people, bin Laden noted that the 9/11 attacks cost al Qaeda only a fraction of the damage inflicted upon the United States. "Al Qaeda spent $500,000 on the event," he said, "while America in the incident and its aftermath lost -- according to the lowest estimates -- more than $500 billion, meaning that every dollar of al Qaeda defeated a million dollars."
The economic strategy of jihad would go through refinement. Its initial phase linked terrorist attacks broadly to economic harm. A second identifiable phase, which al Qaeda pursued even as it continued to attack economic targets, is what you might call its "bleed-until-bankruptcy plan." Bin Laden announced this plan in October 2004, in the same video in which he boasted of the economic harm inflicted by 9/11. Terrorist attacks are often designed to provoke an overreaction from the opponent and this phase seeks to embroil the United States and its allies in draining wars in the Muslim world. The mujahideen "bled Russia for 10 years, until it went bankrupt," bin Laden said, and they would now do the same to the United States.
[...]
The point is clear: Security is expensive, and driving up costs is one way jihadists can wear down Western economies. The writer encourages the United States "not to spare millions of dollars to protect these targets" by increasing the number of guards, searching all who enter those places, and even preventing flying objects from approaching the targets. "Tell them that the life of the American citizen is in danger and that his life is more significant than billions of dollars," he wrote. "Hand in hand, we will be with you until you are bankrupt and your economy collapses."
None of this would work if we don't help them by terrorizing ourselves. I wrote this after the Underwear Bomber failed:
Finally, we need to be indomitable. The real security failure on Christmas Day was in our reaction. We're reacting out of fear, wasting money on the story rather than securing ourselves against the threat. Abdulmutallab succeeded in causing terror even though his attack failed.
If we refuse to be terrorized, if we refuse to implement security theater and remember that we can never completely eliminate the risk of terrorism, then the terrorists fail even if their attacks succeed.
What would we ever do without Big Sis looking out for us though?
And so long as the once-cherished freedom to travel without hands down your wife's pants is consensually and sheepishly relenquished, doesnt that make it perfectly a-ok?
This is a real key piece of the puzzle. By allowing our lives to be fearful, and spend ungodly sums for that fear, we are helping them win at their goal.
dont you mean we are lining the pockets of the MIC, Elected Officials, Wall St, etc?
If you are not talking about the money, you aint talkin about , WC.
I wonder how much that damn body scanner cost compared to the underwear bomb that it wouldn't catch?
It's all about power. Money is a form of power.
No kidding.
Besides, would these scanners have stopped the Oklahoma City Bombing, or the recent almost attack where I live?
Once we allow these to be used for travel, why not everywhere?
You are right, and it isnt exclusive to one party.
And my take: there are many forces abroad who are actively trying to override our own democracy and steal our wealth and status, in the name of power. Signs of which we see all around us every day.
You mean the likes of George Soros?
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