Monday, January 11, 2010

When the Skies Aren't so Friendly

Interesting article in Time (January 11, 2010) by Amanda Ripley about the attempted attack on flight 253. She said in part:

. . . regular people will always be first on the scene of terror attacks, we should perhaps prioritize the plublic’s antiterrorism capability—above and beyond the fancy technology that will never be foolproof.


I’ve mentioned this before in both a post and in a 2politcal podcast. Mainly that being completely and totally dependent on technology is mistake. Technology can play a huge part in our ability to combat terrorist plots. The body scanning machines should be used and the numbers at airports should be increased. But it is not the end all and be all that some people make it out to be.

But the reason there wasn’t an explosion on the flight 253 was the haplessness of the terrorist but more importantly the quick action taken by passengers. And maybe it time to start telling people what to do in case something like this does happen. How to react in case just in case there is attempt on another plane. What can people use to help subdue and then restrain a would terrorists. We seem not to want to talk about this. If this is indeed a war why are we not enlisting all our resources to fight it? Aren't the passengers on a plane the ones who should act? Is the idea to just let people sit there and do nothing?

I know I would do something. I've thought about what you could do if something bad happened. And I can't believe I'm the only one that's thought that. Maybe it's time our leaders trust the people and give us the tool to save ourselves along with everyone else on the plane.

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