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you could kill the most just by mass shooting in a shopping mall, who needs an airport line. yet we caught at least two people trying to blow up airplanes in t

by zzzeek 13y ago

you could kill the most just by mass shooting in a shopping mall, who needs an airport line. yet we caught at least two people trying to blow up airplanes in the last ten years (shoe bomber and underwear bomber), why is that? why don't they just shoot up a grade school or a supermarket? (I'm asking honestly here. why airplanes?)

T-hawk 13y ago
Because airplanes are so highly leverageable from a single act into overreactionary freedom-stifling societal damage. One shoe bomber and now billions of traveler-hours are wasted shoeless at the checkpoints. Airplanes have so many eyes on them and every involved entity must overreact to prove We Are Doing Something. Grade schools wouldn't have the same impact because the control is more localized. There's no federal Education Security Administration imposing gropefests everywhere in response to Newtown. Some schools and places will overreact, but a small proportion.
yeukhon 13y ago
Or drive several vans with just gas and rush into the airport during holiday. You don't even need a bomb. Just leak the gas and light a match and boom. I think you have made a good point that others are ignoring. Surely TSA scan is not very effective, but what the heck else do we do? * intel is too powerful, stupid PRISM is hurting everyone's privacy * TSA is destroying privacy * I don't know what else to do What else do we do? I am constantly afraid of someone hijacking my flight.
meepmorp 13y ago
This is something I've wondered at: shopping malls/big box retailers on Black Friday are perfect targets for terrorists. The economic damage you could do to the US for comparatively little investment is pretty high if properly timed. And you'd inculcate significant fear of public spaces for years to come. It's not as cinematic as 9/11, but if you're looking to hurt the US, it's a pretty good choice.
- yeukhon 13y ago
  One thing I find terrorists pretty stupid is that they can literally do anything any average individual could do to harm hundreds of people but they choose to organize in the hardest fashion. I just don't understand their stupid mind! Glad I don't - otherwise I would be a terrorist :( HOLY SHIT

by zzzeek 13y ago

T-hawk 13y ago

Because airplanes are so highly leverageable from a single act into overreactionary freedom-stifling societal damage. One shoe bomber and now billions of traveler-hours are wasted shoeless at the checkpoints. Airplanes have so many eyes on them and every involved entity must overreact to prove We Are Doing Something. Grade schools wouldn't have the same impact because the control is more localized. There's no federal Education Security Administration imposing gropefests everywhere in response to Newtown. Some schools and places will overreact, but a small proportion.

yeukhon 13y ago

Or drive several vans with just gas and rush into the airport during holiday. You don't even need a bomb. Just leak the gas and light a match and boom. I think you have made a good point that others are ignoring. Surely TSA scan is not very effective, but what the heck else do we do? * intel is too powerful, stupid PRISM is hurting everyone's privacy * TSA is destroying privacy * I don't know what else to do What else do we do? I am constantly afraid of someone hijacking my flight.

meepmorp 13y ago

This is something I've wondered at: shopping malls/big box retailers on Black Friday are perfect targets for terrorists. The economic damage you could do to the US for comparatively little investment is pretty high if properly timed. And you'd inculcate significant fear of public spaces for years to come. It's not as cinematic as 9/11, but if you're looking to hurt the US, it's a pretty good choice.

yeukhon 13y ago
One thing I find terrorists pretty stupid is that they can literally do anything any average individual could do to harm hundreds of people but they choose to organize in the hardest fashion. I just don't understand their stupid mind! Glad I don't - otherwise I would be a terrorist :( HOLY SHIT