- May 30, 2005
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First lets take a quick glance at how secure our public transportation systems are:
Airports (security rating: F)
- Newark failed 20 out of 22 underground security tests in 2006
- Albany International 5 out of 7 underground security tests this month
Trains (security rating: 0)
- Nothing. Randomly patrolling policemen are useless in the grand scheme of things. Anybody without a mental handicap could board a train with a bomb without notice.
Alright... not so good. Lets look at ways for terrorists to enter this country or smuggle materials in.
Border (security rating: 0)
- As good as open
Shipping (security rating: F)
- Old news articles indicate that only 5% of incoming cargo containers are inspected. I haven't been able to find more recent statistics, but I have been able to find several sources indicating that there are severe problems with current cargo scanners.
I think we can all agree that the security of our country sucks. What I think many of us disagree on is how far we should go to secure ourselves, so lets try to establish why we are trying to prevent terrorist attacks. Maybe I've become misled, but I think the top reason that most people want to prevent terrorist attacks is to save lives. This is a great reason however if saving lives is one of our nation's top priorities then we should be focusing on events that claim tens to hundreds of thousands of lives per year (ex: car accidents, obesity, cancer, etc...) not terrorist attacks that claim maybe a few thousand lives per decade. One could also make the case that we should try to prevent terrorist attacks because that they have a serious, negative impact on the economy. This, however, does not seem like a worthwhile venture. 9/11's long term impacts on the economy seem virtually non-existent nowadays, and I would think that that our counter-terrorism efforts in response to 9/11 have had a much larger impact than the attack itself (I would appreciate it if our resident economic gurus could either qualify this claim or shoot it down).
So whats my answer to the question "how far should we go to secure ourselves"? I think the fact that our airports and train systems are not secure is not that big of an issue. I enjoy being able to quickly buy a NJ Transit ticket and hop on the train without having to wait in security lines. The chance of dying to a terrorist attack on a train or airplane is so ridiculously small that I think convenience should trump security in these cases. In fact, I would go as far as to say that they might as well loosen up some of the security measures in airports. They don't work anyways and it sure as hell isn't worth it to wait an hour longer in line just for more security.
I do, however, believe that we need to put more effort into securing our borders and monitoring what gets shipped into this country. While the threat of a nuclear attack is extremely small, the consequences of one would be so devastating that we shouldn't ignore the possibility. Furthermore, having the ability to reliably monitor all incoming cargo containers could help prevent other crimes/attacks as well. It also wouldn't severely inconvenience travelers.
Thoughts? How far do you think we should go to secure this country? (Apologies in advance if this post appears rushed)
Airports (security rating: F)
- Newark failed 20 out of 22 underground security tests in 2006
- Albany International 5 out of 7 underground security tests this month
Trains (security rating: 0)
- Nothing. Randomly patrolling policemen are useless in the grand scheme of things. Anybody without a mental handicap could board a train with a bomb without notice.
Alright... not so good. Lets look at ways for terrorists to enter this country or smuggle materials in.
Border (security rating: 0)
- As good as open
Shipping (security rating: F)
- Old news articles indicate that only 5% of incoming cargo containers are inspected. I haven't been able to find more recent statistics, but I have been able to find several sources indicating that there are severe problems with current cargo scanners.
I think we can all agree that the security of our country sucks. What I think many of us disagree on is how far we should go to secure ourselves, so lets try to establish why we are trying to prevent terrorist attacks. Maybe I've become misled, but I think the top reason that most people want to prevent terrorist attacks is to save lives. This is a great reason however if saving lives is one of our nation's top priorities then we should be focusing on events that claim tens to hundreds of thousands of lives per year (ex: car accidents, obesity, cancer, etc...) not terrorist attacks that claim maybe a few thousand lives per decade. One could also make the case that we should try to prevent terrorist attacks because that they have a serious, negative impact on the economy. This, however, does not seem like a worthwhile venture. 9/11's long term impacts on the economy seem virtually non-existent nowadays, and I would think that that our counter-terrorism efforts in response to 9/11 have had a much larger impact than the attack itself (I would appreciate it if our resident economic gurus could either qualify this claim or shoot it down).
So whats my answer to the question "how far should we go to secure ourselves"? I think the fact that our airports and train systems are not secure is not that big of an issue. I enjoy being able to quickly buy a NJ Transit ticket and hop on the train without having to wait in security lines. The chance of dying to a terrorist attack on a train or airplane is so ridiculously small that I think convenience should trump security in these cases. In fact, I would go as far as to say that they might as well loosen up some of the security measures in airports. They don't work anyways and it sure as hell isn't worth it to wait an hour longer in line just for more security.
I do, however, believe that we need to put more effort into securing our borders and monitoring what gets shipped into this country. While the threat of a nuclear attack is extremely small, the consequences of one would be so devastating that we shouldn't ignore the possibility. Furthermore, having the ability to reliably monitor all incoming cargo containers could help prevent other crimes/attacks as well. It also wouldn't severely inconvenience travelers.
Thoughts? How far do you think we should go to secure this country? (Apologies in advance if this post appears rushed)