more on news from the UK

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Titus Brown <titus () caltech edu>
Date: August 10, 2006 1:08:03 PM EDT
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Cc: tkircher () comcast net, h_bray () globe com
Subject: Re: [IP] news from the UK
Reply-To: titus () idyll org

Dave, for IP if you want.

Ted Kircher opines:

-> All of this talk about the potential reality of terrorism is just
-> what Bush and Blair want
-> so that they can further restrict the freedoms of their citizens and
-> gain more power over
-> their legislators. Hence we are moving back to the historic rulers of
-> Kings & Queens
-> and possibly even of Emperors and Pharaohs.

Ted, I'm pretty cynical about the current US administration, but I have
a hard time taking this level of conspiracy theory seriously.  Kings,
Queens, Emperors, and Pharoahs?  Wow.  I'd be just as likely to buy into
this theory as the theory that you're a tool of the Bush Administration,
sent to discredit the left wing ;).  Remember, when it comes to
conspiracy theories, it's turtles all the way down...

I think Mr. Bray has a much more interesting question, and I'm glad he's
asking it:

-> What should a government do?  How far should it go, to surveil,
-> arrest and
-> interrogate the sort of people who'd plan something like this?   
It's all
-> very well to complain of governmental threats to our liberty; indeed,
-> such
-> complaints are a vital part of that liberty, so keep 'em coming.   
But at
-> some point, somebody's got to decide what we will do against these
-> disgusting, murderous fanatics.
->
-> And so the question:  To foil plots like these, what would IPers do?

First, I'd explicitly state that a free and open society is always going
to be vulnerable to attacks: it's the price of freedom and openness.
Recognizing this a tad more explicitly might head off efforts to
(paradoxically) restrict civil rights in the interests of retaining our
current freedom and openness.  As a friend reminded me today, there have
always been unreasonable and somewhat hysterical restrictions *during
wartime*; the insidious quandary of terrorism is that it's not going to
go away anytime soon, and it behooves us to realize that before enacting
permanent measures.

Then, I'd:

Fund efforts to keep nuclear materials out of the hands of nation-states
friendly to terrorism, or susceptible to terror-related subversion.
(We're sort of but not really doing this; Pakistan and North Korea
already have nuclear weapons, and we're not making an effort to disarm
Soviet nukes that's commensurate with the risk.)

Support surveilling the heck out of said nation-states and any and all
terror groups.  (We're already doing this, but we could probably be more
effective.)

Hold non-democratic governments responsible for their actions, instead
of trashing their populations and infrastructure.  (I wish I knew how to
do this.)  As Ted Kircher points out, our efforts in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and Israel's war in Lebanon, are excellent at recruiting --
but unfortunately for the people who want to kill us.

Decrease our reliance on oil, so that we stop funding these whackos.
(We're not doing this *at all*.  Think Manhattan Project for alternative
energy -- it would pay off in the medium term, I bet.)

Be critical of incompetence.  (A strong reason to be against our current
Administration, which seems to be better at stirring the pot than it is
at lowering the heat.)

Enact El Al-style luggage sweeps, Q&A sessions, and the like; put some
good minds to work preventing hijacking & suicide flights (which is, I'm
sorry to say, much more important than preventing a few airplanes from
exploding).  I've never felt so safe as when I travelled El Al in the
late '80s and mid '90s; why can't we be just as diligent?

Above all, accept that the terrorists are out to *cause terror*, and
don't let them do that.  Do our best to prevent mass casualties from
WMDs, but accept some deaths as the cost of liberty, just like we accept
highway deaths as the price of being able to go places fast.  It's a
cynical calculus, but I think it's unavoidable.  (Does that make me a
cynic, or does that make me a pessimist? ;)

--titus


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