How the bad guys can win

It seems to me, that one of the miracles of the human race--and this is a good time to reflect on our miracles--is that we go on.  We tuck our chins down and we trudge forward.  despite the horrors of nature and humanity, we go about the business of living. Bad guys keep escalating, coming up with forever nastier ways to disrupt us. 

That's why we call it terrorism.

It surprises me the number of people who have told me that we were smart to not fly on Friday. The Heathrow terrorist wannabees did not stop Rick and I from starting this world tour that we have been planning. A series of killer typhoons on track to cross paths with us in Southeastern China is what ultimately grounded us.

Heathrow's news earlier in the day, did not stop us, not even for a moment.  We thoughtit would cause us airport inconvenience, maybe making us check bags we wanted to carry on.

It seems to me that if you stop doing what it is you do, if you stay home when you plan to fly, if you avoid the London Tube and New York high rises, then the bad guys can win.

This is an issue that has been around for almost as long as I've been flying. In the quaint old days when Skyjacking was about as terrible as we could imagine it would get, most hostages got to step off the planes and sell their stories to sensationalizing media. I knew that if I were on a skyjacked plane that would not be my likely fate. Carrying a US Passport, bearing the name Sheldon Israel, would mark me as a likely winner for candidates the terrosists would selectto be executed and my body tossed onto the tarmac.

So should I have stopped traveling?  Should I have stayed home and watched it on CNN, hoping it would someday get better?  Should I have trusted governments and their bureaucracies to have somehow made the world a less horrific place?

Of course not. We need to be aware of dangers, and avoid them when we can. But we need also to not huddle in fear of them.  If we do the bad guys can win.

Right now, I have some complex questions regarding the situation at Heathrow and the response that we've seen so far.. Rex Hammock does a good job of expressing the dubious opining of so-called TV experts who claim all you gotta do to blow up a 747 is step into the lav, mix a little of this with a little of that, then set your running watch to a time and voila! everything goes boom.

Likewise, I have this awful feeling that a good part of the terrorist intentions are being inadvertently carried out by BAA, the private company that runs Heathrow. BAA's core competency is in construction, not terrorist detection, and the result is a pandemonium that is curtailing air traffic all over the world. It seems to me that the serious game of "what if," should have been played by airport security people long before this event.

Comments

[Jeremy Ballenger]

Interesting point about BAA Shel, and one echoed by Michael O'Leary, CEO of Ryanair last night in Dublin.

His argument may be influenced by commercial interests, but he has stressed that the best way we can fight terrorism is to go about our lives and have air travel return to normal.

He added that in less than 2 days following the 7/7 attacks last year, the London Underground was back to capacity.

The current air travel situation is now in it's second week. Maybe BAA should stick to building airports, not running them.

[Jeroen Leenarts]

I'd say, let people take onboard hand luggage. That way you'll at-least have something handy to whack a terrorist on the head if necessary.

Also regarding Jeremy's comment. The problem with terrorism isn't the fact whether or not the actual disruption is lasting or not. It's the fear people carry in their hearts what it's all about. When and where will "they" strike next?

[Jim Courtney]

It's worth have a read of Bruce Shneier's commentary where he points out that none of the security measures taken since 9/11 were responsible for last week's reports and arrests but rather: "Instead, the arrests are a victory for old-fashioned intelligence and investigation." More at http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/08/