Reaching for an honest understanding of government policy-
One of our local TV stations recently informed us about Homeland Security gunboats on Puget Sound.
Video here
This hard-hitting interview was an opportunity to answer most FAQs.
Serious subject matter- covered like an elementary school field trip down to the fire station- except- students might come up with some intelligent or interesting questions on the field trip.
What questions went unasked?
1) How does the gunboat protect the ferry if a bad guy is already onboard?
The Washington State Patrol uses dogs to check vehicles at some ferry terminals on some days. Walk-on passengers are not checked at any terminal-at any time.
2) "Terrorists" (If they really are out to get us) can communicate just like teenagers- they can wait in line and ride the ferry just like anyone else.
What would stop terrorists from riding the ferry and alerting each other if they see a US Coast Guard escort or Washington State Patrol dogs sniffing cars prior to loading?
3) If a terrorist wanted to get their boat dangerously close to a ferry- they could just put it on a trailer and drive it on- what would prevent this?
The Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon was blown up way back in 1983. Today, we are supposed to make believe that big money spent on Homeland Security shows http://tinyurl.com/n9yhwd will keep us safe- if the boogeyman really is out there.
If we take off our thinking caps, we won't see weak links in the chain.
We are told that public fishing access will not exist on the new and improved Hood Canal Bridge: http://tinyurl.com/lsee6z
If loss of fishing access is linked to post 911 security, should we see US Coast Guard gun boats doing laps around the bridge to keep things safe?
None of this is about sneaky stuff, secret, undercover operations, etc. It is all right out there for the public to see, good guys and bad guys alike.
The Puget Sound area includes a cluster of military bases. Every branch of the US Armed Forces has a presence here. Possibly large numbers of retired military people live here, yet, no-one ever seems to question what they see.
Local TV news channels hire neutered father figures to read the news. No sense of curiosity- no investigative reporting- to try and make sense of any of this.
The sight of gun boats escorting passenger ferries is a thought provoking experience for me- they appear ready to take on pirate boats, though terrorists prefer the surprise attack, not naval duels: http://tinyurl.com/lx7prd
Investigative journalists don't seem to notice.
Our dumbed-down Homeland Security messages assume that terrorists are bumbling fools. This might make us feel better, but does it make us more safe?
It will be easy to spot an attempted strike. Expect the bad guys to be sloppy- the packages they send will look like they were put together by drunken 3rd graders, or Wile E Coyote.
If the wars overseas are important enough for our guys to be getting arms and legs blown off, why do federal agents at US ports of entry only attempt to stop 30% of terrorists crossing through them:
Hey VFW, Hey American Legion, Hey Joint Chiefs of Staff- what do you think about 30% ?
Homeland Security Theater
