Safe and Sound?

I live in a rural area and rarely lock my doors or windows. Recently, I experienced a break-in. Well, a walk-in would be more appropriate, I guess. Regardless, I’ve taken steps to make sure that kind of thing will never happen again: I now lock the door through which the burglars entered. “The other doors and windows?”, you ask. Well, no, they’re still unlocked. After all, no one came in through them, so where’s the danger?

The recent security breeches within the commercial airline industry have many asking why and how. Now this is a touchy area for me since I still make my primary living as an airline pilot and the last thing I would want to do is provide ideas for would-be bad guys on jets. Let me start by saying that it seems our security responses to threats are similar to my analogy of the burglars. (No, I wasn’t burgled and yes, I lock my doors and windows.)

September 12, 2001 introduced increased scrutiny for box cutters and other small instruments as the 9-11 hijackers used them in their commandeering. Then, the shoe bomber was foiled and only then did we experience grater scrutiny of our footwear. A plot was uncovered in Europe that utilized liquids and, bang, we’re limited to 3 ounces of shampoo, lotion, and other gels or liquids. Now do see the similarity?

The standing joke was that someday, someone would put a bomb in their underwear and then we’d be forced to go “commando”. Well, the latest attempt involved explosives in the underpants and I’m waiting for such an edict. Investigations and the like are sure to follow so as to identify the flaws that allowed such a near-miss. But will they provide any substantive change?

Have you ever witnessed a magician performing a trick? It is impossible to figure it out until you are provided the insight and solution. Then, it becomes almost ludicrous that you could not have figured it out in the first place. Connecting the dots, if you will. Terrorism and other illegal acts are not that different. We try to figure out what the bad guys are planning and how to thwart them. Sometimes we fail to connect those dots and, in hindsight, we are equally confounded that we missed the clues.

Security is a laborious and tedious undertaking. And any security network involves an unbelievable amount of data and a likewise amount of personnel to collate and input the data into a likewise amount of computers. Is it any wonder that oversights and mistakes enter into the mix? Add to that the fact that those who are charged with entering the data and those that are generally the last line of defense against threats (the TSA agents) are many times the lowest paid and least capable.

Security costs money in manpower and equipment and to trust such endeavors to individuals possessing little or no education and the proper mental framework to perform such work creates many gaps within this “network” created to increase security. The truth is that most security systems serve only to dissuade the amateurs while hoping that the true, dedicated hell-raisers will screw up somehow. And many times they do as is evident by the latest attempt in Detroit. But sometimes they don’t and society pays a high price.

The only thing I can say without reservation is that I do not believe we have come very far from the level of security we had prior to 9-11. True, the façade is greater as is our inconvenience, but, by and large, we are still similarly exposed. Take a look at the recommendations of the 9-11 panel and you will find a host of counter-measures yet to be realized. The airlines don’t want to spend the money on something that has yet to occur (much like my burglary analogy) and there is little political will to enact legislation to that end.

In the meantime, travelers endure unbelievable affronts to their dignity in the name of safety independent of the fact that a greater level of security remains elusive. One needn’t think especially long or hard to imagine other scenarios that would cause havoc and panic and destruction within the confines of our borders. I’d like to think that we, just like our magician, could wave a hand and make the anger and hatred and zealotry disappear. This cycle in history must play itself out and to what conclusion is anyone’s guess. In the meantime, take no comfort that the “steps being taken” to ensure your safety will have any measurable effect until our security and intelligence forces start looking beyond their historic turf wars or preventing only a repeat of the latest attempt. This mentality provides no added safety nor is it sound.