Terrorism

Suspect this one will land me in trouble here.

Terrorism of the individual kind does not of itself threaten our way of life. Yes, it’s very nasty to have a plane destroyed or a bomb planted in a public place. People get killed and that cruelly affects their families but it does not disrupt the way most people go about their daily life.

No, what does affect our lives is the reaction to the most recent incident and our seemingly lamentable failure to act on intelligence. The latest incident of course is the failed bomb attempt on NW253 from Amsterdam to Detroit. The guy was known but not considered a particularly high risk and no one has even speculated about why he picked that particular flight. If I’d have been him, I’d have caught a later flight for NW253 is very early.

And now of course, we find the guy was trained in Yemen so the spotlight has moved to there – a country neglected by the West for so many years.

The outcome will of course be further security checks and increased delays for millions of ordinary folks. Air travel has already got to the point where the flying time is but a fraction of the total travelling time. Whatever next I wonder, x-ray checks at the bus stop? It’s all ‘shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.’

Time and time again, we get the post facto news that the individuals involved were known to the security authorities. You only have to read the 9/11 report to wonder why a bunch of Arab/Muslim lads taking up flying lessons did not attract more attention from the FBI. But then as the report says, there was little coordination between the various security agencies.

A good start would be an increased focus on possible suspects and a suspension of all this egalitarian/PC shit at security. Face up to this. When was the last time you heard that a bomber was dressed like a nun, a Western businessman or a young dolly bird wearing jeans and high heeled shoes? So let’s go for the swarthy and bearded and quit giving the likes of Prince Harry (or was it William?) a full security check. As I said, earlier in this blog, it’s the blokes with tea towels on their heads and brown paper parcels under their arms that we have to worry about.

Naturally, there would be outrage at implementing policies like the above. Well, the USA and Britain are already in deep shit on the international stage so it can’t get much worse. If Egypt or Chechniya objects, we should just say ‘look mate, we haven’t seen any threat from grey haired pensioners of Cardiff.’ This may sound racist but it's not meant to be. However the inescapable fact is that these terrorist attacks can be profiled and by so doing we would relieve the majority of society of the tedium and inconvenience of unnecessary checks.

And finally, let’s think about taking away for the reason for all this crap. Let’s stop meddling in Iraq and Afghanistan and face up to the fact that Israel (for 40 years) has shown itself to be quite able to defend itself. (Oh sure we can sell them weapons as do the French but they don’t get so much approbation because they sell weapons to anyone – because they do it for money.) Leave the buggers to killing themselves and not us. We should have learned that lesson in Northern Ireland.

Postscript: Since I wrote this, many people in the media have also raised the issue of profiling. Obama has even extended his list of countries from which citizens might be suspect. 'Ridiculous,' says The Times and I agree. It's not their nationality on which we must focus but their behaviour and style plus of course any intelligence gathered from elsewhere.