The NYC terror alert was a hoax; but this whole war on terror is a big joke

NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg – who demonstrated fearless leadership by taking the subway to work despite what he thought was a credible threat – is seen in this photo-op calming and commiserating with an equally fearless New Yorker – who probably thought the terror alert was a joke when he announced it

I know a number of people who cancelled meetings in New York after the Mayor announced last Thursday that “specific and credible intelligence” compelled him to put the city on the most heightened terror alert since 9/11. But making such announcements and altering plans in reaction to them is not only unwarranted but also self-defeating. After all, these responses only embolden terrorists to make more threats – hoping to incite more terror and disrupt our lives in perpetuity.

Moreover, it seems farcical for the Mayor to have encouraged New Yorkers to “go about your daily activities as usual” whilst deploying a phalanx of prophylactic security measures around the city that resembled a Gilbert and Sullivan Broadway production more than anything designed to combat terrorism. Indeed, as if only to complete this farce, after the Mayor had thrown the city into a surreal state of simultaneous calm and panic, it was disclosed on Tuesday that the intelligence he claims compelled his action was nothing more than a hoax. Evidently, a disgruntled Iraqi informant thought he’d get back at his American spymasters by feeding them disinformation. (But the joke’s not on the Mayor and NYC; it’s on everyone who longs to live in freedom).

Nevertheless, does anyone really believe that if suicide bombers were planning to blow-up trains on the NYC subway that they would have attempted to go underground at a station guarded by a cauldron of police donning mad-max body armour and carrying machine guns that fire over 500 shots per minute? And, since the Mayor made public the (alleged) intelligence about them hiding bombs in baby carriages or backpacks, does anyone think that the bombers would have shown up pushing baby carriages or carrying backpacks – even if they were stupid enough to go to one of those “stake-out” stations?

Yet, for almost a week, TV screens all over America were saturated with images of battle-ready policemen eyeballing commuters as they entered SOME of the targeted subway stations; and images of their comrades-in-arms underground scanning the baby carriages of European nannies and rummaging the backpacks of WASPY coeds – searching in vain for those fabled bombs. Meanwhile, if they chose, would-be bombers had virtual EZ passes at all kinds of other “high value targets” in New York City and even at a nuclear plant just outside the city that, if hit, would have made the subway bombings seem like firecrackers by comparison.

I should hasten to clarify that I do not think complete resignation in the face of such terrorist threats is the way to go. It behooves us all, however, to face the reality that there’s simply no way New York or any city can protect its residents from suicide bombers. And, it’s only a costly diversion – bordering on the theatre of the absurd – for government officials to mount such gratuitous show of force in response to terror threats.

Therefore, instead of turning their cities into Orwellian fortresses, government officials should be recruiting individuals to infiltrate these terrorist organizations and using any means necessary to disabuse terrorists of their jihadist ambitions. After all, no country has been on a more heightened terror alert since 9/11 than the United Kingdom. Yet, despite its labyrinth of security measures – including surveillance cameras on every street and at every underground station – terrorists still struck in the heart of London on 7/7.

Alas, broadcasting intelligence reports about a planned terrorist attack, no matter how reliable, will not deter terrorists. In fact, the only thing such announcements do is provide government officials a pretext to show-off their arsenal of police weapons that, ironically, only exacerbates the terror they’re supposed to allay.

The silver lining in this instance though is that, perhaps, this hoax will cause the Mayor and others to spare us any more terror alerts and just allow anti-terror analysts and the military to do their best to engage terrorists where they live, plan and train for their diabolical deeds. Besides, with their big barrel machine guns, chances are – if they did spot a suicide bomber on the subway – trigger-happy NY policemen would probably kill more people trying to arrest him than the bomber would’ve killed if he had detonated his bomb. (Remember how many bullets reserved London policemen put in that innocent Brazilian commuter – after they had him restrained – because, they claim, he was acting suspiciously…like a terrorist?)

UPDATE: It seems President Bush was briefed on this article because, late this afternoon, he had his CIA director announce the formation of a new spy shop called the National Clandestine Agency to enhance “American overseas spying activities.” Fewer guns, more spies = better intelligence. It’s elementary!

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