Actually, that title pretty much sums up my commentary on yesterday’s foiled terror plot.
Because the good news is that British intelligence allegedly prevented presumed al Qaeda terrorists from blowing up 10 U.S. airplanes filled with passengers on a transatlantic flight from London to the United States. But talk about “shock and awe”: Given all of the new “safety measures” imposed upon travelers yesterday, just imagine how the world would have recoiled in terror had these fanatics pulled off their “mass murder on an unimaginable scale.”
Indeed, what concerns me is that (oxymoronic) American intelligence probably would not have foiled such a plot if it were being planned in the U.S. for flights bound for the UK. After all, where the British understand implicitly that pervasive domestic surveillance is sine qua non in preventing such acts of terror, Americans remain ambivalent, if not fatally naïve, about the need for similar intelligence gathering in the U.S. ( i.e., through NSA electronic surveillance, racial profiling etc).
(But click here to read how I argued that necessary criminal surveillance in this respect would pale in comparison to the amount of commercial surveillance these same Americans blithely accept as a matter of course.)
Meanwhile, I am grateful that fate intervened to cancel my travel plans for later today. Because as much as I don’t mind giving up my liquids and gels or taking off my shoes, I’m usually conflicted with barely containable indignation knowing that all a terrorist has to do is tuck his timed bomb inside his checked luggage to accomplish his dastardly deed. (And don’t get me started on cosmetic security measures at container ports all over America….)
I realized soon after 9/11, however, that a fair amount of fatalism is even more indispensable than counterintelligence to surviving in the world today (as I noted in this commiseration after 7/7 in London last year.)
So, until the next terror alert…or attack, don’t worry man, be happy!
NOTE: Said Bush to Democrats and disaffected Republicans: How ya like me now…?
UPDATE (3:30 pm): A number of readers emailed this morning to inform me that I have it exactly backwards in praising British whilst dissing American intelligence. And almost all of them cited the monumental cock-up the British committed by killing Brazilian commuter de Menezes in cold blood in the wake of last summer’s terrorist attacks in London.
Fair enough. But the praising and dissing (such as they were) were intended only to juxtapose the surveillance opportunities readily available for British and American law enforcement, respectively. Because, I submit, the reason American intelligence is oxymoronic has more to do with the constraints placed on law enforcement authorities than anything else. And this is why I cited the previous article to support what now appears an evidently offensive juxtaposition.
That said, anyone who wants to get into a debate about whose intelligence service is best, be my guest. Be mindful, however, that before this Israeli – Hezbollah war, most informed people would have sworn that Israel’s Mossad is the best on earth. Yet they seem as clueless about finding Hezbollah’s rockets as the CIA were about finding Saddam’s WMDs.
Yet I have nothing but appreciation for those who are tasked with apprehending Muslim terrorists before they kill us (or terrorize us to death). Maybe these latest suspects are entirely innocent, maybe they’re not. (Egro, “I think…” in the title to this piece.) But I understand all too well that cynicism towards police authorities (in the UK and U.S.) is such that no amount of evidence they proffer will ever convince some people (whole communities) that a bona fide plot existed in this case. Alas, for them, only charred remains will suffice….
But, as indicated, I find it’s best to contain my informed frustrations about intelligence failures (and political opportunism) in this “global war on terror”. And, a healthy dose of cynicism mixed with fatalism helps a great deal in this regard.
terror airline plot, al qaeda
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