Safe and Secure

The news this morning was wonderful. Right before Thanksgiving travel they have a news story on how some government agents managed to sneak by TSA agents at the airport with liquid explosives and other explosives. They then show how the government agents later joined together the explosive components in a car and showed the effects on the car. And the newscasters wondered are we safe? And why are we not safe after spending so many millions of dollars on air safety.

Ah such is the nature of an asymmetrical threat. A determined threat can penetrate even a comprehensive defense. What the newscasters will never ask is "is it ever possible for something to be completely safe?" or "at what cost is total safety possible?" My guess for No. 1 is no. I just don't think anything like air travel can be completely safe. I mean you are in a giant metal tube thousands of miles above the earth, with the laws of gravity still in effect and with parts of that giant tube that are not filled with people or unknown cargo, filled with jet fuel. I mean come on. You can certainly screen the passengers and screen the cargo, but you can't possibly hope to eliminate every threat all of the time. Who knows what someone will come up with to get past metal detectors, bomb sniffing equipment and body cavity checks. With regard to the second question I can only believe that the cost of total safety is prohibitively expensive. And I'm not sure total safety is really worth a lot of the non-economic costs I would be expected to pay. Once people are scanned and frisked and asked to travel without bags, maybe we would all be safer, but I think most of my travel would get cancelled at that point.

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Part of the problem seems to me to be the particular nature of air travel. You don't hear stories about terrorists running trains into buildings. Trains run on tracks you see. And even when they blow a train up (see Spain) its not likely to take out more than the terminal. Better to bomb-proof a terminal than to waste a bunch of time and money screening everyone and mounting anti-aircraft defenses on tall buildings. But hey planes are so cool.

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I guess in the big scheme of things, I don't really worry about another 9/11. I care that it doesn't happen of course. I am just not willing to stay in my house afraid anymore. I am sure something like 9/11 will happen again, and I hope next time we respond appropriately, then stop. I am becoming increasingly disillusioned with the idea that we need to make everything so safe that nothing bad ever happens to us. I guess FDR was right.