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Istanbul Attack: A Grim Reminder Of Why Airports Are Easy Targets (firstpost.com)
An anonymous reader shares a FirstPost article:Even as I write this the echo of gunfire continues at Ataturk International Airport. For reasons that defy logic, Istanbul's main airport has always been seen as a vulnerable target which only underscores the fact that all airports in the world are open to attack and fail-safe is not a viable option. At Ataturk, security is usually high, but the weak underbelly lies in vehicular traffic entering the airport being given cursory checks, pretty much like most airports which is why President Erdogan was able to say this sort of attack could have occurred anywhere. That is true. Airports are easy targets. That even though Turkey was aware of the chinks nothing much was done to up the security levels. If you take Delhi International as a prime example, the access to the terminal is scarcely blockaded and one can reach the entry points with ease, crossing a couple of indolent checkpoints and a roller fence. (Editor's note: the article has been written by an Indian author, and so he uses an Indian airport as an example.) Indian airports are as porous as a sponge. Most of our airports are red-starred which places them in the inadequate category. Add to that the fact that several thousand VIPs are given privileges that make a pudding out of security and it indicates how easy peasy it would be to amble up to the terminal entrance. The weakness primarily lies in the absence of X-Rays and deterrent technology on approach. You practically can check in and get to immigration before being cleared for hazardous material.
Look, if you make all airports safe from terrorist attack, the terrorists attack malls, or office buildings, or schools. So making airports safe from terrorist attack is something only a MORON does. It isn't worth it.
Airports are not particularly important, the way that airplanes are.
The danger with planes is not that they are connected with air travel, but that there is little difference between a airplane and a guided missile. A guided missile that the terrorists did not pay for and could not afford, but can be used to attack another buildings.
Any idiot that tries to protect airports from generic terrorists attacks is a fool, wasting our money because they have no idea of the difference between a high priority target and a low priority one.
Airplanes are high priority targets and need to be protected. Airports are low priority targets that should not be heavily protected, except to prevent people from gaining access to the planes.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
To bring down a murderous nut-cult, you have to do what the Brits did to the Thuggee. You have to infiltrate them, identify their leaders, and kill them. If the Brits had been worried about offending the peaceful worshippers of Kali, India would STILL be plagued by ritual murders today.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
What you describe is fairly similart to what I experience there 2.5-3 years ago. The main difference was that they would only go through your carry on luggage and they would dump it out on a table after it had been X-rayed. They also made you keep your your checked luggage with you for about as long as possible. You brought it over to the X-ray machine, you picked it up on the other side of the X-ray machine and you then brought it over to finally be checked only after it was approved. If there was a problem or question you instead brought it over somewhere else while guards watched you open it in-front of another screener who would ask you about the item in question. You would then retrieve the item and they would ask you more questions about the item. In my case it was my old metal bodied film SLR and metal bodied lenses. As I was a guest of the government all the times I went I didn't get the full Q&A session as I had previously provided a detailed listing of my activities while there that was already checked and approved by other government officials. The questions they ask seem to be to see if you stumble or get tripped up. When questioned about my camera the questions where in quick succession asking where I got it, how long I had it, etc. and at the end if it took better pictures than digital ones.
Other things of note is at each stage they do little things to keep people moving and they also have many checkpoints in parallel so that there isn't a big pile up in one spot. You know the exact opposite of what the TSA does.
Time to offend someone
I took the parent's statement to be mainly that domestically in the US (or anywhere), a couple people can easily kill a lot of people if they want to, without much in the way of special equipment, knowledge, or talent.
Ultimately, for nerds, this comes down to a numbers game. How many people need to die to force "decisive" action? (By extension, how many need to die in one place.) Based on a BBC tally in April (IIRC), it was under 900 dead around the world. Let's double it and round up a bit, and say that 2,500 people are going to die at the hands of extremists per month, or 30k per year. With 7 degrees of separation, that means that someone you know has about a 2% chance of knowing someone who dies in a given year.
If there is a 1:1e5 probability that any given person is an extremist/nutjob, then your best chance is limiting the amount of damage they can do, since you can't limit access to the knowledge or tools of destruction.
It really does make you wonder why the numerous soft targets like malls haven't been hit in the US, especially after Kenya.
Around here, the sporting venues all do metal detectors and handbag searches, so in-the-event is a lot harder, but the side effect is a few thousand spectators jammed up in entry concourses.
I wonder if we'll reach the point where the government will simply take over the entire process of getting to the airport.
24 hours before your departure you will get a text telling you which specific pre-departure screening area to arrive at and what time to arrive. There will be a couple of dozen per metropolitan area and arranged so that there are no vulnerable crowds of more than 10 people. Assignment will be at random, no way to group parties traveling together. You will get pre-screened and inspected and then bused to the airport, which will be completely closed from the outside to the general public. Everything will be brought in by security contractors, including employees and airport supplies.
The Orlando shooter was born in the United States.
The response was they investigated him twice. However, you have to prove that he is a dangerous psychopath before you can anything more. You can't simply throw a person in jail -- or exile a U.S. citizen from the country (however you propose to do that) -- because they watched bad videos and/or their coworkers say they're tied to multiple terrorist groups that, incidentally, totally hate each other.
On the other hand, you've just made a veiled threat of violence ("Its going to be hilarious when people have finally had enough and it snaps"), so I suppose it's time to report you to the FBI and demand a response. No reason for your individual liberty to outweigh the risk of another McVeigh.
You sure about this? I tried to substantiate your claim for you, but the googles came up empty. I seems that James Holmes converted to Islam shortly after being imprisoned, though.
sig: sauer