How Do You Stop a Suicide Bomber?

Is the question I asked Brian this morning on my way out the door to work. We agreed on the answer: you can't.

He had some time to post this morning. I'm certain this question is one a lot of people are either directly or indirectly asking themselves today in wake of London Bombings Part II.

DC officials have a rather silly idea about how to deal with potential suicide bombers in the Metro stations: random backpack searches: Subway riders may face random police checks of their bags under a security measure being considered in the nation's capital, the latest city to look for ways to deter terrorism on rail systems.

No decision has been made on the idea for the city's 106-mile Metrorail system, and the logistics would be difficult. But “it would be another tool in our security toolbox,” says Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein.

All right, class, let's hit the highlights of how this would not work:

• If the random searches occur in crowded stations or, heaven forfend, crowded trains, what's the difference of detonating the backpack on schedule or when the Metro cop says, "Hey, you!"? Not much to a suicide bomber.

And that's about it entirely. If a person is committed (a strange word, but it fits) enough to take his or her own life with the goal being to kill as many people around him or her, what motivation to stop the process can a third party bring? Chance of getting caught? Not exactly. No cookies for snack tomorrow? I probably shouldn't joke. But there's no perceived punishment in this world (none that civilized people would carry out, anyway) to deter these people.

And then the liberals drone whiny about the liberal-perceived root causes of terror and the far right or just horribly crass folks display more window stickers of the little boy pissing on bin Laden. Because, as Brian says later in his post, they want to DO SOMETHING or blame someone or something theoretical or named.

Technology is only going to make terrorism aspects more and more accessible to interested parties. From tools to coordinate attacks to tools to implement them efficiently and "effectively." The root is easy - misguided perceptions of "reward" or (or combined with) hatred (mostly irrational). I've read my copy of The Sacred Age of Terror from cover to cover.

So how do you stop a suicide bomber? I couldn't tell you. I'm sure all of us can give a good 10 reasons on what NOT to do.

Oh, and anyone in the British media calling the bombers from either set of attacks 'insurgents?' Didn't think so.

hln

Posted by: hln at 12:47 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 457 words, total size 3 kb.

Out of YOUR Pocket

James Joyner posts about bad writing. Specifically, he posts about productivity lost due to poor writing in public sector jobs. He's quoting from this, an AP source, part of which I will repeat.

States spend nearly a quarter of a billion dollars a year on remedial writing instruction for their employees, according to a new report that says the indirect costs of sloppy writing probably hurt taxpayers even more.

The National Commission on Writing, in a report to be released Tuesday, says that good writing skills are at least as important in the public sector as in private industry. Poor writing not only befuddles citizens but also slows down the government as bureaucrats struggle with unclear instructions or have to redo poorly written work.

Wow, but not really.

I think this is going to lapse into anecdote, so the rest will be in the extended section.

more...

Posted by: hln at 03:35 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 470 words, total size 3 kb.