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Author Topic:   What price political correctness?
Hyroglyphx
Inactive Member


Message 55 of 63 (339552)
08-12-2006 2:17 PM
Reply to: Message 1 by cavediver
08-10-2006 6:22 AM


The policy is to check EVERYONE at Heathrow and other airports this morning on the back of this huge terror alert. Is this necessary? Limited security resources are spread thin and disruption is maximised. Thus there are associated financial and security risks with this policy. How necessary is this policy? At what scale does this policy becomes untenable?
Here's the problem: You don't increase security after a significant threat was established after-the-fact. When 9/11 occured, I was in the military at that time, working as a military police. We went from low drag to high speed in 5 minutes after the fact. All of a sudden, we checked every single vehicle that passed through our gates, whether they were a civilian or a two-star Admiral. This frantic inspection continued for a week straight and then slowly subsided into a lackadaisical apathy (or at least when compared to the preceding days after 9/11). The point is, if you're gonna be high-speed and tactical, then do it all the time, not when the enemy is the most unlikely to attack. They are most likely to attack when we least expect. I mean, that is so cardinal that I actually trivialize it by mentioning it. The point I'm trying to make here, there is always a credible threat in the UK/US/Canada/Israel/Australia or any nation that embraces some sort of "due process." The 'good ole days' we grew up with are over. That's just the reality of it. And the problems of the Middle East have been thrust upon the Western world. That's just the way it is. Knowing this, its too late to go back to the way we were. As far as Heathrow and pretty much all Western airports being on high security, it will subside again, and all your toiletries will be back on the plane.
[still in the process of moving and only just got limited net connectivity installed, so apologies to all those I owe replies to from the past couple of weeks. will be back to normal in next couple of days]

“If chance be the father of all flesh then disaster is his rainbow in the sky. And when you hear of, state of emergencies, sniper kills ten, youths go looting, bomb blasts school, it is but the sound of man worshipping his maker” -Steve Turner

This message is a reply to:
 Message 1 by cavediver, posted 08-10-2006 6:22 AM cavediver has not replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 57 by nwr, posted 08-12-2006 5:52 PM Hyroglyphx has replied
 Message 60 by nator, posted 08-12-2006 6:32 PM Hyroglyphx has not replied

  
Hyroglyphx
Inactive Member


Message 62 of 63 (339746)
08-13-2006 1:49 AM
Reply to: Message 56 by Tal
08-12-2006 4:53 PM


Profiling
Should we profile is a great questoin.
When people think of profiling, many will automatically draw an inference that it is a racist proposition. But is that really the case, or is it really an uber-leftist plea? I choose the latter and this is why: Everyone profiles whether they like it or not. When you see a physically fit person, wearing athletic apparel, we draw conclusions that they are an athlete or that sports is an important factor in their life. When we see a man with a t-shirt of a band and he's carrying a guitar, we can assume that he likes music a great deal. How does this fit in the criminal world? When you see 4 men entering a bank at 2:30 in the afternoon, standing in line, what is the first thing you think of? I think that they are getting ready to make a deposit or a withdrawl. Now, suppose those same four men are now outside of the bank at 2:30 in the morning, wearing ski masks and they are blow torching the door? Uh yeah, they're robbing it. You have all kinds of Probable Cause at that point. How about something more subtle: I'm standing gate duty on base and an Arab man drives up, shows his id, smiles politely and thanks me. What do I think of? Nothing, other than he's going to work. Now, a car making erratic movements pulls up to my gate. Its five clean-cut teenagers but they are acting rowdy and seem to have trouble answering specific questions about where they are going and what for. They appear anxious and nervous about my presence. Their suspicious behavior triggers a response in me to have a unit trail behind them for awhile. If there is no reasonable suspicion or probable cause to further engage the teenagers, then the unit stops trailing them. End of story. Race doesn't factor into it, attitude does. That's just how it goes and everyone does it.
On a side note, does anyone know how the Iranian military cleared mine fields during the Iran/Iraq war? Families would send their kids to the Irainian engineers with little gold keys tied around their necks. These kids would then run across a minefield and blow up. The key is supposed to be the key to paradise.
EOD, Iran style.

“If chance be the father of all flesh then disaster is his rainbow in the sky. And when you hear of, state of emergencies, sniper kills ten, youths go looting, bomb blasts school, it is but the sound of man worshipping his maker” -Steve Turner

This message is a reply to:
 Message 56 by Tal, posted 08-12-2006 4:53 PM Tal has not replied

  
Hyroglyphx
Inactive Member


Message 63 of 63 (339747)
08-13-2006 1:52 AM
Reply to: Message 57 by nwr
08-12-2006 5:52 PM


I agree - if the purpose of the inspections is to stop terrorist attacks.
But what if the whole purpose of the inspection is to instill fear into the population, so that they are more likely to vote for the incumbents in the next election?
That's way too conspiratorial for me.

“If chance be the father of all flesh then disaster is his rainbow in the sky. And when you hear of, state of emergencies, sniper kills ten, youths go looting, bomb blasts school, it is but the sound of man worshipping his maker” -Steve Turner

This message is a reply to:
 Message 57 by nwr, posted 08-12-2006 5:52 PM nwr has seen this message but not replied

  
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