HOMELAND INSECURITY

For anyone who still can’t see that terrorism is a straw tiger and airport security is a complete ruse, here are two pieces of information that should tighten your focus a little. First, using undercover agents to try and sneak lethal materials onto commercial flights, Homeland Security constantly tests the effectiveness of its airport screeners. The latest test results showed that as bombs and bomb parts passed literally under their noses, screeners failed to spot it 75% of the time. Seventy-five per cent! I don’t see how they could do much worse.

Second, prior to this latest test, a Homeland Security executive sent a memo to all airports, warning them in advance about who and what to look for . . . and they still missed 75%.

The inconvenient truth here is that securing airports from terrorism in a country in which several hundred thousand people fly every day is simply not a do-able task. Perhaps realizing this, or perhaps not, the Bush administration has opted instead to allow Americans to fly under the illusion of security: it isn’t any safer for you, but it’s a lot more profitable for the airline industry.

The existence of terrorists isn’t enough to keep me from flying, any more than the existence of lightning keeps me from walking in the rain. It’s always something. You pays your money and you takes your chances. What does scare me is a government that is willing to rob its citizens of their civil liberties in the name of security ( which it doesn’t provide ) and citizens who are willing to be robbed. It’s time to push back.

a foot on either side