Wednesday, August 11, 2004

Terror Alerts  The New York Times, today, had an op-ed piece about the terror alerts. "Being Clear About Present Dangers" By PHILIP BOBBITT Published: August 11, 2004 http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/11/opinion/11bobbitt.html It is an interesting discussion which speaks to the problem of officials who must decide whether to release information about potential terrorist attacks. On the one hand they don't want to create a "boy who cried wolf" scenario. On the other, they are concerned that if an attack occurs without a government alert they will be guilty of having put people at avoidable risk. Yet, when a general alert is raised, the reaction of individuals and the media is, "OK, but what are we supposed to do". In my previous article, I pointed out that with information specific enough to defend particular buildings, the public alert was warranted, if only to warn the potential attackers that these five targets are now hardened, thereby frustrating attack plans which have always been based upon relatively undefended targets. That particular alert aside, The government has made it more complicated than it needs to be. The real alert came on 9/11. We are at war and it has been made clear that civilians are not exempt from attack. There should be a national safety checklist for all citizens. I am not going to speculate on what shoud be on that checklist. We already know about reporting unattended packages in public places. We generally know to report suspicious behavior. Perhaps there should be pamphlets discussing what constitutes suspicious behavior. We don't want to panic into large scale abuse. We also know that our families should have an emergency communication plan. The checklist should be regularly updated as we learn more about what to look for. Even as the alerts have moved between yellow and orange, there are no studies indicating how many of us actually do have a communication plan, or know who to call if they see an unattended package. Children in Muslim countries are regularly given anti-western orientation and taught that we are the enemy. I don't think it would be wrong to have the children in our schools learn the contents of the checklist and how to take acion in an emergency. Beyond the first responders and the boy scouts, people should learn first aid. If people want to show their patriotism, beyond lip service and flying the flag, perhaps they could put charts with the checklist on their doors. As I said earlier, we are at war. War is not comfortable, even though President bush and Tom ridge have told us to live normal lives. We should not be living the same lives as in peace time. We should find ways to show our solidarity as Americans.  We should do those things which make us safer and sends the message to the terrorists, not that we are afraid, but we are taking steps to thwart them. There is much debate about our policy in Iraq. There is not much debate that we are under continuing threat of attack. Our government has not trusted us to be part of this war. The terror alert system mainly serves the comfort of government officlas and not the safety of the people. It is time for change. Melvyn Polatchek 6:29:40 PM    comment []