The False Choice

From Bruce Schneier on the British terrorism plot.

1. There was some serious cash flow from someone, presumably someone abroad.


2. There was no imminent threat.


3. However, the threat was real. And it seems pretty clear that it would have bypassed all existing airport security systems.


4. The conspirators were radicalized by the war in Iraq, although it is impossible to say whether they would have been otherwise radicalized without it.


5. They were caught through police work, not through any broad surveillance, and were under surveillance for more than a year.

I wanted to touch briefly on item number three.  Terrorists will always try to bypass existing security systems which is why it is pointless to continuously move the target on what is and what is not legal to take on a plane.

Terrorists hit soft targets, the perpetrators of 9/11 used items that were legal as did the British nuts.  The only way to defeat attacks on airplanes is to undercover the plots before they hatch.  The rest of this nonsense merely makes life difficult for the rest of us while accomplishing nothing in realms of safety.