It cost us more than money

An Engineering News Records Article called "Threats Fray Nerves But Spawn Innovation" by Tom Sawyer on how terrorism paranoia is a boon to construction and surveillance technology industries provides this as an example of what happens if you're not paranoid enough. Which isn't the point I'd be making with this example:

The consequences of not taking action are serious, even if no attack ever occurs....

Water officials in Wilcox, Ariz., population 3,100, got their wake-up call Oct. 15 when a patrolman spotted a broken lock and an open hatch on the water tower. The system was shut down for 28 hours. Labs from Phoenix to Atlanta ran tests. The utility drained its 5-million-gallon system into the desert as a precaution. In the end, three young men were charged with breaking and entering. They confessed to having gone for a swim.

Yes. Boys. Swimming. Not terrorists. Rather than pointing out that this was a grotesque overreaction, that no terrorist likely could even find this hamlet of 3000 on a map, and that there must be something amiss with the mental state of local officials if they're sure THEY are an attractive target for terrorists, the article then goes on to recommend "solutions" such as:

...high security fences and sensors, which are going in everywhere, ...to monitor sounds in structures to give early warning of corrosion. They are finding new applications as tripwires for terrorists. They can listen for fences and bridge cables being cut or climbed.

So now they'll be able to flip out over the same boys climbing cables?

The Onion did a great piece about this sort of thing. Security Beefed Up at Cedar Rapids Public Library describes senseless hysteria in a town many people have never even heard of, let alone one of remarkable 'target' value.

Our nation suffered a tragedy, and we sadly became collectively senseless.

Working very long hours takes the edge off my typing, somehow.

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Recent points of interest in the week's news: David Kay, leader of the Iraq Survey Group (WMD hunting team) has resigned. (BBC) In a Reuters interview, Kay said that he didn't believe Iraq has been producing WMDs on a large scale since the end of Gulf War I, and that the massive stockpiles he was supposed to find never existed. "If the weapons programs existed on the scale we anticipated, we would have found something that leads to that conclusion. Instead, we found other evidence that points to something else." (washingtonpost.com) That something else: documents contemporaneously documenting the destruction of arms back in the 1990s.


Kay's replacement, Charles Duelfer, is rescinding his "outsider" comments expressing doubts that WMDs would ever be found in Iraq. (BBC)

All George Bush could say after his lead WMD hunter claimed that he was misled by inaccurate intelligence was that "the world is a better place without Saddam Hussein." (BBC) Really. He said that. (See the full article for more quotes which all appear to have the tone of: 'I'm not listening! I don't need consistent reasons! Saddam was bad! Chocolate is yummy! I'm the President - so there!')

Bush's State of the Union address (here with excellent Atlantic monthly commentary) (atlantic.com) provided some fodder for the Kay disillusionment discussion. Bush actually cited Kay's report thusly:

We're seeking all the facts -- already the Kay Report identified dozens of weapons of mass destruction-related program activities.

Read that sentence again a few more times. It's a very careful way of using a lot of words to represent things that were not found in a very vague way. I enjoy Adam Felbers SOTU commentary (felbers.net) on this issue:

This line will be quoted quite a bit in the coming months, and you have to admire the carefulness of its construction. For instance, note that Bush didn't say "weapons of mass destruction programs-related activities." Word order is important - he's talking about activities in programs related to weapons of mass destruction. There's a difference. In this construction, the Iraqi Beaker Manufacturing Collective's annual softball game would qualify.

(Be sure to also see his parody Rove memo about adding Kay to Bush's enemies list, and the related entertaining commentary from fans.)

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Meanwhile, the Red Cross is still demanding legal status and due process for the detainees held at Guantanamo Bay (BBC) Oddly, while the thousands of men and boys swept up in US raids in Afghanistan are being held without proper classification or rights, the US has deemed that Saddam Hussein is a prisoner of war, and entitled to appropriate legal treatment. (BBC)