Terror and Protection :: essays research papers fc

Winston Churchill once said â€Å"Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.† Today some people believe that should America just withdraw from all of its military engagements and then terrorism would just disappear. This however is not the answer. While many disagree on foreign policy I wish to discuss domestic protection. An internally strong nation will produce an equally strong outward nation. For this reason I believe many more safety precautions should be instituted to keep us safe not only in the public sector but in the private sector. Today numerous prospective radical targets include skyscrapers, airports and nuclear power plants. Each of these is susceptible in its own manner and as such each can be defended. With added security any potential damage must become no damage. The methods in which this can be done will be outlined in the subsequent paragraphs. Presently the first and most problematic area in security are airports. Last sunday â€Å"A Kentucky woman, carrying a handgun made it past security screeners and almost boarded a plane with the weapon. Airport police were alerted to the situation when the woman realized her mistake and reported it herself† (Kuo). â€Å"Mishaps† such as this cannot be tolerated within airport safety. How do you miss a gun within a passenger’s carry-on luggage? This woman did it with ease by accident; imagine what someone who had meaningly brought a weapon on to a plane could do. Airport security emplyees should be scrupulously certified with competency tests as well as identity verification. To keep another 9-11 from taking place FAA must rigorously curb access to planes, and other facilities in and around airports. The FAA must also meticulously perform more serious background checks. Every passenger’s name should be run in legal and terrorist databases to also prevent any disasters. Every flight, domestic or non domestic should have armed air marshals on it. Initially this was done following September 11th but was phased out due to the cost. If these simple precautions are employed flying will become much safer. Many believe that if a passenger has a through background check it will impede his rights to privacy.