Schneier On the War On the Unexpected

jamie found this essay by Bruce Schneier, The War on the Unexpected. (It originally appeared in Wired but this version has all the links.) "We've opened up a new front on the war on terror. It's an attack on the unique, the unorthodox, the unexpected; it's a war on different. If you act different, you might find yourself investigated, questioned, and even arrested — even if you did nothing wrong, and had no intention of doing anything wrong. The problem is a combination of citizen informants and a CYA attitude among police that results in a knee-jerk escalation of reported threats... After someone reports a 'terrorist threat,' the whole system is biased towards escalation and CYA instead of a more realistic threat assessment... If you ask amateurs to act as front-line security personnel, you shouldn't be surprised when you get amateur security."

Comments

Unclear argument

[sithkhan]

IMHO, Schneier's argument is poorly-reasoned: were our parents and grandparents who were asked to keep an eye on things here in the States and in Great Britain while the majority of able-bodied men served on the front 'biased'? Were the people who served as police just 'knee-jerk' reactionaries? When did the citizens who become involved, for better or worse, in the workings of the defense of this country, become less-than-capable? So there are false alarms and quick reactions to situations. Should there be a forty-eight hour cooling-off period for any investigation instigated by a citizen's report? Yes, the question is absurd, but so is Schneier's assertion that 'OMG! JacKKKbooted NAZIS are going to have you arrested!' If a perfect world or nation is sought by Mr. Schneier, I suggest he purchase an island in the Caribbean to live alone. He might find harmony and Utopia that way ...

Re:Dejavu

[tomstdenis]

Ah the "wrong side" of the story. Here was a Syrian travelling with the wrong papers, deported to Syria for failing to produce a Canadian passport (something he shouldn't have had in my opinion). Tough cookies.

I hate these people who retain multiple citizenships so they can be bailed out by whichever government they need. If you're canadian, ditch your Syrian passport because you're not Syrian anymore.

This guy had what was coming to him [in the form of the deportation]. It's hardly the US's or Canada's fault that the Syrian government tortured him (and yet we paid for it anyways).

Tom

Re:Dejavu

[tomstdenis]

He failed to produce the passport. I'm 100% certain if he had a valid canadian passport and presented it to the customs officer, he would have been allowed in or sent back to Canada. What you're getting is one side of the story. The side where he did no wrong, and it's all everyone elses fault that he fucked up.

Dual citizenship basically means you're not loyal to either, nor subscribe to their customs, culture, values, or rights. you can't both be American and Canadian, at least in spirit since while similar are very different nations in terms of laws and rights.

And it's not our fault that his own government tortured him. It just isn't. Yet I as a tax payer have to pay this guy, this guy who loves Canada so much he went as far as to NOT GIVE UP his Syrian citizenship. Fuck him, fuck him in the asshole. He should have sued the Syrian government since they're the ones who wronged him. Or at the very least, the Americans since they're the ones who actually deported him.

Tom