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That is primarily true because we are a heavily/overly militarized and protected country. If it were easier to frequently fly planes in to large buildings I thi
by Fezzik 11y ago
That is primarily true because we are a heavily/overly militarized and protected country. If it were easier to frequently fly planes in to large buildings I think we can all agree religious extremists would be killing a significantly larger number of people in the US. It is *lack of opportunity that prevents this, not a passivity that is greater than that of police officers.
- toomuchtodo 11y agoHow many people are waiting in a TSA checkpoint at busy times, unprotected? And yet, we haven't seen those groups of people massacred.
- dragonwriter 11y ago> How many people are waiting in a TSA checkpoint at busy times, unprotected? None; even outside the "secured" areas, airports are one of the most heavily patrolled places open to the public. Obviously, that doesn't make attacks impossible, but characterizing that locale as "unprotected" is unreasonable.
- delecti 11y agoThe security line is almost by definition pre-security, and often includes dozens or hundreds of people.
- dragonwriter 11y ago> The security line is almost by definition pre-security The security screening line is (just) outside of a particular layer of security; the area of the airport outside that layer, including the line, is still one of the most heavily patrolled areas open to the public in the US, it is not "unprotected".
- delecti 11y agoMaybe you couldn't get to the screening line with a rifle strapped to your back, but you almost certainly could with a bomb strapped to your chest under your jacket.
- mikeash 11y agoYou could bring one hell of a big suitcase bomb. Weight limits would not apply, and size limits only vaguely. Lug in one of those really big roller suitcases filled with high explosives and nails, roll it right into the security line, and... I'm on a list now.
- TeMPOraL 11y agoIf you want to be really douchy about such an attack, use liquid explosives in 1L soda bottles. Say that you forgot about the regulations and dutifully throw them together into the bin... (I'm probably on the list already anyway.)
- pavel_lishin 11y agoSure you could. http://abcnews.go.com/US/georgia-man-defends-carrying-loaded-rifle-airport/story?id=31504025 http://abcnews.go.com/US/georgia-man-defends-carrying-loaded...
- delecti 11y agoAnd now I feel better about my hesitant "maybe".
- jaycroft 11y agoMore people's lives have been spent in line waiting to get through US airport security since 9/11/2001 than died at the WTC on that day. A rough estimate is 788M passengers/year * 15 minutes * 14 years / 80 years per lifetime > 4000 lifetimes. Now if only my Macintosh would boot faster...