more on TSA and Fear

Begin forwarded message:

From: Chris Gulker <[email protected]>
Date: September 27, 2006 11:08:51 PM EDT
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [IP] TSA and Fear

I think Lauren's observation is perspicacious. It is clear (if you  
travel even a little bit) that TSA policies are capricious and  
enforced willy-nilly from town to town - a complete ad hoc  
performance as far as I can see.  In very recent experience, Newark  
and Kansas City, Denver and San Francisco all have very different  
styles, if not policies at the turnstyle as it were.

In New York (JFK) a couple weeks ago, I was told a one-hour delay in  
baggage coming off the plane was because TSA insisted on x-raying  
bags coming *off* the plane. In Kansas City 2 weeks ago, you could  
drink water from a bottle on the concourse, but only if the bottle  
top had been confiscated. Elsewhere, I've seen passengers with liter  
bottles go through the line and get on the plane, at the height of  
the 'liquid and gel' scare (which threat has been known since 1984,  
judging from the literature).

In every large enterprise I've ever worked for, the culture did  
indeed come down from the top.  Terrorists aren't likely to be put  
off by TSA policy or culture: they will only be deterred by TSA  
competence at detecting them. If TSA's fear culture bred competence,  
I'd be all for it.

What i've been seeing for my last 6 years on airplanes, however, has  
not been encouraging. I think Bruce Schneier is right: the real  
deterrent has been strong doors on cockpits, and passengers who will  
no longer tolerate hijack attempts at any cost, not TSA's  
inconsistent, and, I fear, ineffectual security-line 'theatre'.


On Sep 27, 2006, at 7:39 AM, David Farber wrote:

>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Lauren Weinstein <[email protected]>
> Date: September 27, 2006 10:30:35 AM EDT
> To: [email protected]
> Cc: [email protected]
> Subject: TSA and Fear
>
>
> Dave,
>
> The TSA-related behavior at the front lines should hardly be
> a surprise.  It's hard even to really fault those field agents.
> Such behavior almost always flows from the top, and it's clear that
> the administration has fostered a climate of fear that has been
> indoctrinated into the powers-that-be at TSA and all the way down
> through the organizational chart.
>
> I'm not talking so much about fear of terrorists, but rather fear of
> losing their jobs if they let one perceived "unusual" case through
> that turned out to be a problem later (or, more likely, a test case
> to make sure that the bizarre interpretations of law being
> promulgated are rigorously enforced).  Shucks, that "free speech"
> stuff is always getting in the way, isn't it?
>
> But gosh Mr. Peabody, what else would you expect from a TSA that
> forced its "undercover" operatives to dress like they were attending
> a funeral, and an administration that makes a big deal out of
> releasing portions of an NIE with top-secret analytical gems
> amounting to "the war in Iraq has inspired terrorists" (duh), and
> "terrorists will make increased use of the Internet" (double-duh).
>
> As the old saying goes, "What goes around, comes around."
>
> --Lauren--
> Lauren Weinstein
> [email protected] or [email protected]
> Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
> http://www.pfir.org/lauren
> Co-Founder, PFIR
>    - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
> Co-Founder, IOIC
>    - International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net
> Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
> Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
> Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
> DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com
>
>
>
>
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