Thursday, August 31, 2006

I Too Fear No Terrorist!

I recently read a commentary on people who are willing to allow a little intrusion in exchange for increased safety from terrorism. The author of this commentary was clearly passionate about the topic and also seemed to have done his homework. I took exception however because the tone was almost contempt or condescension towards anyone who was willing to make such sacrifices. An excerpt from the commentary, entitled “I Fear No Terrorist...” is below in italics.
“I am NOT afraid of terrorism... For good reason... I live in the middle of the country... Landlocked in a small town... There are so many idiots that walk around, afraid of terrorism, who will never even come close to being in danger... They just love to rally together behind what is viewed as a common enemy... It's herd mentality, coupled with America's superiority complex... We cannot be the land of the free, and the home of the brave while legislating away our privacy, and cowering in the face of terrorism... We encounter far greater preventable threats on a daily basis and never bat an eye...”
David
The author then went on to list examples and premature death rates for these examples. Included were Automobile accidents (costing over 40,000 deaths, 3.5 million injuries, and 150 billion dollars annually), Smoking (costing 340,000 to 540,000 deaths annually), and obesity (resulting in approximately 300,000 deaths annually). Clearly, an American is far more likely to die as a result of one of these, then they are from a terrorist attack. The author then cited financial reasons for why these differ from terrorism. While I understood his logic there were factors that were overlooked. My response is below.

I Too Fear No Terrorist!
I do not fear terrorism, I do not fear terrorists. That said I do not underestimate them either. I live in Houston, Texas, and I can assure you that we are a target due to our having one of the largest medical centers in America, and the largest oil refinery sector in America. Many people have taken the mentality that we need not fear terrorists because they haven't successfully completed an attack on American soil since 9-11. What few understand is that this is the case because of the measures that have been taken. I can tell you first hand that terrorists do indeed walk among us. I am a fireman. I have had extensive training in emergency response to terroristic bombings, counter terrorism awareness, weapons of mass destruction... You name it; the list goes on and on.
The general public are misinformed as to what a WMD is, and the presence of terrorists in America. First, regarding WMDs, the general populous thinks WMDs are anthrax, and nukes. While it is true that these do constitute WMDs, so do salmonella* and influenza**. WMDs have been found in weaponized form in Iraq since the beginning of the war. Just not the big three everyone was expecting, Nuclear, Anthrax or Smallpox, and VX gas. I will let that speak for itself.
Now, many people don't appreciate the amount of effort that has been put into ensuring that there not be another major terrorist incident on American soil since 9-11. As a result of the relative quiet, the public has grown complacent and feel secure in their lives. The fact is terrorists do walk among us and are awaiting the opportunity to exploit our complacency. In Houston, I have personally responded to two calls in-which terrorist plans have been thwarted. One was due to investigation, and the other due to my training.
The first was a HAZMAT scene where a man had stolen 30 pieces of construction equipment. These devices were for x-raying pipe. Each of these devices contains a small amount of radioactive material. This man was carrying 30 stolen nuclear devices in his pick-up truck! His home was later found to have bomb making materials. It is clear his intent was to create a “Dirty Bomb”. Fortunately, someone was dedicated enough to maintaining our safety to catch this before it became newsworthy.
The second incident was a direct result of your tax dollars paying for my anti-terrorist education. During a particularly busy day at the station we were dispatched to an assault call. It appeared to be a bread and butter assault call when we arrived. A couple of brothers had gotten into a fight. No big deal, aside from the fact that their dorm room stunk horribly. While the brothers were speaking with the police and the EMTs I noticed two twenty gallon containers through an open bedroom door. Each was about two-thirds full of what looked like urine. I advised my captain who contacted the fire marshal. Though gross and possibly a health hazard, 30 gallons of urine are more of a threat then you might expect. This urine can be processed into urine nitrate, a highly potent explosive booster. I am unaware of the details regarding what else was found in their dorm but I do know that they were both charged, convicted, and are serving long sentences for whatever it was that their plans were.
Some people would say that I had violated their rights. For the record, I legally did not. When emergency personnel are summoned to a location, that location becomes the property of the responding emergency agency. In other words if you have a fire at your home it becomes the fire departments home till the department releases it back to you. As such, I breached no law in looking around. Even still some would say that even with the legal right, I had no ethical right to look around as I did. To them I say, “You are dead wrong!” I do not support full intrusion with no limitation to invasion of privacy, but I do recognize that there are occasions where it is in the best interest of the nation and its people that the ability to investigate deeply, be there. Had I not been lucky, these two college students, here on student visas, could have killed a number of people. It is better to stop a murder then to solve one!
Finally, in answer to your statements on obesity, smoking and automobile accidents, you have a valid point in the comparative risk. It is true that you are far more likely to die from anyone of the things that you mentioned then from a terrorist, even if the terrorist organizations were to complete five more WTC attacks. You missed the mark, however on the point that you were trying to make. When you conduct an experiment you must have a control to compare to. For example, if I want to see the difference in how a plant grows with fluorescent lights and with incandescent lights, I must use identical plants, in identical pots, watering them the identical amount of water, at the same time everyday. In your statements you have too many variables. The most important of these being that if someone chooses to smoke and it causes them to die prematurely they made that choice. If someone chooses to eat far too much and it causes them to die prematurely they made that choice. When you get behind the wheel you know the potential risk of driving, yet you choose to do so. Though we have the choice to stay home and hide in our houses we can take a number of risks into consideration but in the end most people are relatively safe in their travels and at work. I work one of the most dangerous jobs there is but I have the option to weigh the risk versus the benefit when I put on my gear. A person sitting at their desk filling paperwork doesn’t get the choice to weigh the risk of life or death from that plane outside of the window. When terrorism is brought into the equation you aren’t just talking about numbers. You are also talking about one person making the risk benefit choice for another. This is where terrorism diverges from obesity, smoking, or driving.
As a side note I feel little difference in the way that I view drunk drivers and terrorists. Both, groups are self important individuals who are willing to risk taking the lives of others for their own reasons, be it religious, or simply I don’t want to pay for a cab. I bear no respect for either of these.

*Salmonella typhimurium (Used by the terrorist organization "Rajneeshee" in Oregon in 1984, resulting 751 casualties)
**Influenza (claimed 21 million lives, over 20% of the world’s population, from 1918 to 1919)

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