The sun is bright, the sky is deep blue and the radio and talking head news channels are discussing what it means to be in the "post 9/11" world. A few things have been bothering me ever since all the buildings in the city have become mini-fortresses, swarming with hired security and the continual drone of "May I check your bag please, sir? Over here sir.

What really gets me is that all the preparations are really just windowdressing. Example: In one building I frequent during my workday, they have the requisite table with hired security, some guy prods or casually glances in the purses, bags and packages that people bring into the building. Sounds secure, right? No. Not really. It's a quick glance-okay-your-guns-and-explosives-aren't-on-the-top and on your way you go.

That's the part the bothers me. Half-assed attempts to be "secure" when some fanatic could have C-4 strapped to their chest and legs, and just stroll into the building. Most city office buildings are setup this way. The more paranoid building managers put concrete or some other barricade in front of the all-glass lobby, but when you get down to it, you aren't fighting someone who's going to drive a bus through your safety glass. It's more likely they'll look like someone who works there, should be there or has been called by a "trusted" person to do something in that building.

So, what does the "security" do then? Not much. It becomes a impediment for anyone who has legitimate business in the building, and I suppose - catches the real STUPID terrorists. But, as the military and various news sources have grudgingly admitted, we are not fighting stupid people. It would make us feel better if we could just picture them all is illiterate spittle-spewing religous zealots, but it isn't looking that way. The plan that caused 9/11 wasn't stupid, it was planned carefully. I'll say that again just in case you're speed reading. It was planned CAREFULLY and METHODICALLY.

So, to recap: Most security at buildings and other structures is completely half-assed, and anyone with the patience to plan out a strategy of attack will most likely succeed.

Our leaders know this. The FBI knows this. Every agency that has the job of collecting intelligence knows this. Why do you think the Terrorist Attack "Alert" system is in place? They know that unless they can get everyone nearly as paranoid as the security agencies are, these attacks will happen and be successful. We are turning into the extension of these agencies because quite simply, they don't have the manpower or resources to do the job.

Here's a few suggestions I have:

If you are in charge of a building, and you can't afford real security in the form of walkthrough scanners and x-ray machines, then empower your staff to be trained enough to recognize a risk, and have the infrastructure in place (cameras, perimeter alarms, card swipers or even RF tags for building residents) to be AWARE of who is in your building. The emphasis should be on NOT harrassing the people that work there, but to quickly identify and track those that are not "citizens" of the building.

Acknowledge that you can't protect everything, but what you CAN protect, do it properly. Hired security is a risk. These people didn't have the commitment to get into the police force or military, yet you're going to hire them to protect you? (I realize some prior military and police personnel are part of these teams, but they are the only ones I would trust, not some shmoe that had a few days of handgun training.) If you must hire security - have someone who knows what they're doing screen each one. If they don't perform, they're out.

You must be thinking - "Oh great, he loves extra security and subdermal tracking chips, what about our freedom!"

I was getting to that. All this preparation and paranoia is self-defeating in the end. You can't be in a perpetual escalation mode. It doesn't work. And, the longer you try to maintain it, the closer we slip into becoming a police state. The final recommendation is that we have a grandfather plan to review and retire methods once we have some kind of "containment" on the situation. If we just allow these things to exist and take on a bureaucratic life of their own, we'll never be rid of them.

It's a complex problem, and I'll be revisiting this again as time goes on.

Have a good holiday - you too, folks at Echelon and Carnivore. :-)

Desiato

desiato_hotblack @ hotmail.com