Terrorism – Part II

Last week I shared on overview of terrorism in the last ten years and my concerns over losing civil liberties to the perception of safety; prompted by the Christmas Day underwear bomber. I offered a solution to fighting terrorism based on quantitative values and cost benefit, primarily recognizing if terrorism were to occur I do not think any amount of effort could be done to stop it.

In MBA School my professor in Economics asked us to consider how the number of exits on an airliner is determined. With 250 or more passengers, it seems there should be more than eight doors on board for evacuation. But, upon examination, it is quickly realized a door cannot be placed in every row of the aircraft because the cost to build the airplane would be exorbitant. Thus, an acceptable level of loss has been determined to offset the cost benefit of adding more doors to an airliner. A recent statistic I saw showed the probability of an American being involved in a domestic terrorism event in an 80-year life span is 1 in 80,000, whereas the probability of involvement in a car accident is 1000 times greater. Recent proposals focused on fighting terrorism through government expansion and spending billions. Statistically those monies would be more justified on automobile and highway safety to save more lives.

Recently, one of my family members said we should all just subject ourselves to a strip and body cavity search; similar to current enhanced imaging systems proposals. If we have such searches, how will failure to stop terrorism be defended. In contrast, others have proposed more specific profiling by race, gender, and religious belief. I certainly do not believe a complete subjection of us to invasive searching will eliminate all potential threats, nor do I believe specific racial or religious profiling will eliminate threats either. Another family member even proposed requiring all Americans to carry a gun, even on airliners. Outrageous as it sounds, quite frankly I believe the threat of terror, at least in America, would disappear.

I believe our security priorities are misplaced, focusing on airlines, public attractions, and sporting events. If I were a terrorist I would synchronize multiple bombings at shopping malls or Wal-Mart’s across the country. I would consider blowing up parts of the national pipeline infrastructure; these pipelines traverse thousands of miles of rural countryside, cannot be guarded, and yet would stop the flow of petroleum products and cripple the economy. To blow up a plane, I would just jump the fence and plant explosives on regional jet serving the airlines. I would focus on terror, more like the pirates off the coast of Somalia. My point is there are many opportunities for terrorism, 99.9% cannot be prevented. Thus, there is a point where we have to fight back, secure ourselves, and use common sense.

During the last nine years we have adapted to the constant threat of terrorism, and it has become comedic. The terrorists have not stopped, nor will they as they are fueled by a religious hatred most of us cannot understand. Our government has chosen to spend billions of dollars, create new agencies, deploy new technologies, harass law-abiding American citizens, and blame other countries, but yet cannot stop a known terrorist from entering the country or exercising his threat. As citizens we have traded civil liberties for perceived safety and gained nothing in return. The same terrorism threat exists today as it did ten years ago, but yet we pay the personal price for the ineptness of those who claim they can protect us.