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Old 08-30-2005, 08:11 AM   #46
Binkie
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: The Beautiful U.S. of A.
Posts: 1,241
Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter
Now I bet some of the increased security works and can't be proven except over a period of time and you can't take that risk, but random searches simply do not work, they don't even work as a deterrant since the chances are so low and you can get by it by simply using a different bomb container, or bombing the place they moved the security guys in from.

How far do you go?, do you go until any form of mass transit is unusable to people who like the forth amendment? Are you about to say, "Enjoy the constitution, get out of America"?, where is the line?
I'm not saying it can be proven, otherwise I would have submitted something in the form of, rather than citing my own speculation.

But I do disagree that they don't work as a deterrant, at least for formally trained al-Qaeda operatives or those associated with the group and groups like it. Hightened attention and stepped up security measures compromise their ability to carry out their operations against specific targets. Like Cold-War spies, these operatives purposely avoid the stereotypes that governments and the public are most suspicious/aware of. With that in mind, how likely do you think it's going to be that a man of Middle Eastern ethnicity is going to be stopped and searched if he carries a large backpack into the subway nowadays? It'd be very risky and sloppy to attempt another attack on the subway. Obviously the copy-cat bombers in London were a fine example of that. Advanced terror groups with the ability to carry out major attacks do not operate that way.

When targets become compromised by security measures and public awareness, they're generally aborted/ditched - at least by those with the ability to carry out well coordinated and devistating attacks.

Quote:
How the heck will that help?, the terrorists use false names and have already got books, removing the privacy of an American citizen in a library does not stop a terrorist from blowing up an American building.
Here's another funny story; back when the ACLU first caught wind that the Feds had the power to seize info on your library records, they demanded to know everything about it from the Justice Department. When they didn't get the answers they wanted, they brought up a law suit. Shortly after the Feds came out and stated just how many times they had used this power to gather information, which was never.

Despite that, I'll still disagree with you, just because not all terrorists are foreign and not all terrorists are exactly brilliant minds or well trained in covert intelligence operations against a government/nation. Should the government need to use this ability, I'm assuming it would be in connection with more of domestic terrorism involving individuals with no formal training from groups like al-Qaeda who get their info/ideas from such wonderful bedtime stories as "The Anarchist Cookbook" and "The Turner Diaries."
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