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It’s also just one of those hard things to prove: is TSA actually stopping attacks like 9/11? The simple presence of them might be enough of a deterrent or we m

It’s also just one of those hard things to prove: is TSA actually stopping attacks like 9/11? The simple presence of them might be enough of a deterrent or we might just be extremely lucky. Seems these days the real threat is drunk passengers attacking flight attendants.

macNchz 2y ago
> The simple presence of them might be enough of a deterrent The planning for 9/11 took several years, $500k in financing, and had a lot of moving parts between recruiting, research, travel/visas, flight training etc. It's hard to believe that people motivated at that level would truly be deterred by what you see happening at the typical American airport these days.
digging 2y ago
Well, the TSA has been tested for their ability to detect weapons being brought through security screenings, and they were absolutely horrible at it. Can't grab a link at the moment, but if you search for it, you'll easily find the report published... by the TSA. So are they stopping anything serious? It's a safe bet they're not.
booleandilemma 2y ago
Have they caught and arrested any would-be bad guys? Should be pretty easy to verify.
- mulmen 2y ago
  Well Guantanamo Bay still exists. From https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_cam...: > As of August 2024, at least 780 persons from 48 countries have been detained at the camp since its creation, of whom 740 had been transferred elsewhere, 9 died in custody, and 30 remain; only 16 detainees have ever been charged by the U.S. with criminal offenses. Given what we do know about the secretive and illegal activities of the federal government during the War on Terror I don’t think it’s a reasonable assumption that everyone accused of terrorist activity got their day in court.
  - eskodhi 2y ago
    780 persons - 740 persons transferred - 9 persons dead = 31 persons that should remain. Oh wiki.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
- arrowsmith 2y ago
  They foiled these guys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHfiMoJUDVQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHfiMoJUDVQ
- dawnerd 2y ago
  But how many were caught by TSA?
Cthulhu_ 2y ago
Thing is, terrorism makes people afraid, even if no attack actually happened; one theory I have is that foiled plots are not reported on. Maybe in 20-50 years some of the records will be unsealed and we'll hear about loads of foiled plots. But the counterpoint to that is that a gunman almost succeeded in killing Trump despite showing the behaviours online and offline of your stereotypical amateur assassin.

macNchz 2y ago

> The simple presence of them might be enough of a deterrent The planning for 9/11 took several years, $500k in financing, and had a lot of moving parts between recruiting, research, travel/visas, flight training etc. It's hard to believe that people motivated at that level would truly be deterred by what you see happening at the typical American airport these days.

digging 2y ago

Well, the TSA has been tested for their ability to detect weapons being brought through security screenings, and they were absolutely horrible at it. Can't grab a link at the moment, but if you search for it, you'll easily find the report published... by the TSA. So are they stopping anything serious? It's a safe bet they're not.

booleandilemma 2y ago

Have they caught and arrested any would-be bad guys? Should be pretty easy to verify.

mulmen 2y ago
Well Guantanamo Bay still exists. From https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_camp https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guantanamo_Bay_detention_cam...: > As of August 2024, at least 780 persons from 48 countries have been detained at the camp since its creation, of whom 740 had been transferred elsewhere, 9 died in custody, and 30 remain; only 16 detainees have ever been charged by the U.S. with criminal offenses. Given what we do know about the secretive and illegal activities of the federal government during the War on Terror I don’t think it’s a reasonable assumption that everyone accused of terrorist activity got their day in court.
- eskodhi 2y ago
  780 persons - 740 persons transferred - 9 persons dead = 31 persons that should remain. Oh wiki.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
arrowsmith 2y ago
They foiled these guys: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHfiMoJUDVQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHfiMoJUDVQ
dawnerd 2y ago
But how many were caught by TSA?

Cthulhu_ 2y ago

Thing is, terrorism makes people afraid, even if no attack actually happened; one theory I have is that foiled plots are not reported on. Maybe in 20-50 years some of the records will be unsealed and we'll hear about loads of foiled plots. But the counterpoint to that is that a gunman almost succeeded in killing Trump despite showing the behaviours online and offline of your stereotypical amateur assassin.