Affected
Posted: Wed 16 August, 2006 Filed under: Cynicism, News, Thoughts, Travel 4 Comments »So now we’ve had pretty much a week of the new security regime at airports, and what I was wondering was this : Who actually wins in this “war” against terrorism?
Supposedly there was a “plot”. Fine. Maybe there was, maybe there wasn’t. Whatever. I’m not going to dispute it for the moment.
But because of this plot, everyone who was taking a flight was affected. The authorities and government are forever banging on about how they’re making us more secure, so that terrorism can’t blight our lives. We’ll never bow down to terrorists. We’re making sure that terrorism can’t affect your life. Blah, blah, blah.
But actually, the terrorists win this one before they’ve even started. Without setting off a single device, without hijacking anything, with no deaths, injuries, or – really – effort at all, they’ve managed to paralyse all the major UK airports, get their cause on to every single piece of worldwide media, and have knock-on effects for hundreds of thousands of people. If not millions of people. Talk about effective!
And it’s still ongoing. After September 11th, all the airport security was stepped up. It’s still like it today. That’s five years down the line, and people still think of Al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Bag, et al. Our lifestyles have changed because of terrorism. Now there are even more restrictions in place, and it’s because of terrorism. Governments and authorities have reacted – to a purported plot, not to an event – and by those actions have affected every single person flying from (or to) the UK for the last week. They’ve put the thoughts of terrorism into people’s heads, made them think about it, and really have done the terrorists job for them.
Good, isn’t it?
Isn’t that why it’s called Terrorism?
Better that a few thousand people have their flights disrupted and have to stand in a queue for a little while than lose their lives.
On the other hand, Al Qeeda and his mates might start thinking about recruiting 12 year old boys because they’re so obviously not a threat.
Sorry Lyle, you’ve lost me on this one.
How do you propose we stop the terrorists from ‘winning’? Do we undo all the security measures? What other options are there?
Seriously, I’m genuinely curious. You’ve got a lot to say about what you think is wrong, but you don’t offer any suggestions of how to fix it? So, let’s say you are PM. What do you do?
The media histeria reminds me of the early 1980’s when the tabloids actually promoted Gerry Adams and his warped vision! … free speech and the press in this country do have a lot to answer for, I do appreciate their role and their freedom, but I do wish they would use that freedom a little bit more wisely and stop sensationalising things such as terrorism, with which we have lived with since the 1970’s. The threat is no greater than before or has everyone forgotten those cowards known as the IRA and the endless list of atrocities committed in the name of Republicanism???????????