4 ms·

The problem with this attack is that no sophisticated preparations were done, no weapons were needed, just a fanatic driving a truck and yet so many people died

The problem with this attack is that no sophisticated preparations were done, no weapons were needed, just a fanatic driving a truck and yet so many people died. This makes things harder for counter terrorism. If terrorists operate independently and don't require special training (piloting a plane) or resources (e.g. explosives) how do you stop them before they attack?

ckastner 10y ago
I'm honestly wondering whether this indicates that the TSA torment is useless (there isn't even a remote chance of stopping them, so why bother), or whether it indicates that it is effective (they're switching methods because the first one no longer works). The abysmal TSA performance data seems to strongly suggest the former, but I can already see some policymakers scramble towards the latter interpretation - we need more TSA, everywhere.
brador 10y ago
Education + Decrease in Wealth Inequality + Better Mental Health Care is an answer. Everyone likes to paint bad guys as monsters, but they all started as little baby human beings just like the rest of us. Then something went wrong. Lets fix those things that go wrong piece by piece and make this world a better place for everyone.
- kyriakos 10y ago
  You are right but you are talking about world-wide education and decrease in inequality - is that even feasible? And say it is, we're talking about a project that will take a century to see fruition so what happens until then?
  - brador 10y ago
    Feasible tomorrow? no. Feasible in 100 or even 10 years? yes absolutely. It is a question of priorities and resources.
- vixen99 10y ago
  I am not convinced that your (possible) answer is compatible with "We are at war and I am a soldier - now you too will taste the reality of this situation." - Mohammad Sidique Khan (7/7 Bomber)? Apparently he was "a quiet, studious boy who was never in trouble but was sometimes bullied. Friends from his teenage years recall a highly Westernised young man who insisted on being called "Sid". After school, he worked in low-level government clerical jobs before leaving to study for a degree in business studies at Leeds Metropolitan University. " Sadly your and my 'fix' is unlikely to be a fix for everybody. The 'fix solution' makes a very large assumption about shared values across the world.
  - brador 10y ago
    Every group has crazies and outliers, we can minimze their damage but they will always exist. Just because he made a statement doesn't mean it applies to anyone more than him. From his description it is likely he was suffering from depression. He found a hook and tried to get out of the spiral by joining something he felt gave his life meaning and friendship. Just like someone joining AA, just like someone joining a local church or synagogue group. Sometimes people are desperate to just be with and around other people and they'll take what they can get. With better mental health resources he would hopefully have been helped before he got to that state. Remember, no monsters, just people.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
- bassman9000 10y ago
  These terrorists tend to be well educated, with degrees in some cases, and have good understanding of the scriptures. Is not an education issue. Nor it's a wealth issue. Attacks happen all over the world, rich or poor. These guys are not desperate because they lack money. Nor they are, in most cases, insane (although we tend to think so). It's an indoctrination issue. They've been told who the enemy was, since they were little. They were told liberal values are despicable, the end of "society". And they've been told any means necessary to end with these values is valid. You need to end the indoctrination, right from where it starts: the neighborhood mosque.
meshr 10y ago
The problem with the attacks like this that civilized people have enough technology to stop this from happening but don’t have enough political power to make changes. I wonder why civilized people allow this to happen again and again. The proper answer to this is giving more power to robots rather than humans. Why commercial truck can’t be stopped remotely? Why car engine continues to work after several hits? Why pilot door (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanwings_Flight_9525 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanwings_Flight_9525) can’t be opened remotely? We need to give more power to software and make firewalls for barbarians.
elgabogringo 10y ago
>>> how do you stop them before they attack? Easy. Stop them at the border.

ckastner 10y ago

I'm honestly wondering whether this indicates that the TSA torment is useless (there isn't even a remote chance of stopping them, so why bother), or whether it indicates that it is effective (they're switching methods because the first one no longer works). The abysmal TSA performance data seems to strongly suggest the former, but I can already see some policymakers scramble towards the latter interpretation - we need more TSA, everywhere.

brador 10y ago

Education + Decrease in Wealth Inequality + Better Mental Health Care is an answer. Everyone likes to paint bad guys as monsters, but they all started as little baby human beings just like the rest of us. Then something went wrong. Lets fix those things that go wrong piece by piece and make this world a better place for everyone.

kyriakos 10y ago
You are right but you are talking about world-wide education and decrease in inequality - is that even feasible? And say it is, we're talking about a project that will take a century to see fruition so what happens until then?
- brador 10y ago
  Feasible tomorrow? no. Feasible in 100 or even 10 years? yes absolutely. It is a question of priorities and resources.
vixen99 10y ago
I am not convinced that your (possible) answer is compatible with "We are at war and I am a soldier - now you too will taste the reality of this situation." - Mohammad Sidique Khan (7/7 Bomber)? Apparently he was "a quiet, studious boy who was never in trouble but was sometimes bullied. Friends from his teenage years recall a highly Westernised young man who insisted on being called "Sid". After school, he worked in low-level government clerical jobs before leaving to study for a degree in business studies at Leeds Metropolitan University. " Sadly your and my 'fix' is unlikely to be a fix for everybody. The 'fix solution' makes a very large assumption about shared values across the world.
- brador 10y ago
  Every group has crazies and outliers, we can minimze their damage but they will always exist. Just because he made a statement doesn't mean it applies to anyone more than him. From his description it is likely he was suffering from depression. He found a hook and tried to get out of the spiral by joining something he felt gave his life meaning and friendship. Just like someone joining AA, just like someone joining a local church or synagogue group. Sometimes people are desperate to just be with and around other people and they'll take what they can get. With better mental health resources he would hopefully have been helped before he got to that state. Remember, no monsters, just people.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
bassman9000 10y ago
These terrorists tend to be well educated, with degrees in some cases, and have good understanding of the scriptures. Is not an education issue. Nor it's a wealth issue. Attacks happen all over the world, rich or poor. These guys are not desperate because they lack money. Nor they are, in most cases, insane (although we tend to think so). It's an indoctrination issue. They've been told who the enemy was, since they were little. They were told liberal values are despicable, the end of "society". And they've been told any means necessary to end with these values is valid. You need to end the indoctrination, right from where it starts: the neighborhood mosque.

meshr 10y ago

The problem with the attacks like this that civilized people have enough technology to stop this from happening but don’t have enough political power to make changes. I wonder why civilized people allow this to happen again and again. The proper answer to this is giving more power to robots rather than humans. Why commercial truck can’t be stopped remotely? Why car engine continues to work after several hits? Why pilot door (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanwings_Flight_9525 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanwings_Flight_9525) can’t be opened remotely? We need to give more power to software and make firewalls for barbarians.

elgabogringo 10y ago

>>> how do you stop them before they attack? Easy. Stop them at the border.