An interesting perspective on security - the columnist apparently was in charge of front-line security of a nuclear weapons cache in Germany during the Cold War.

From the article:
"As the realities of 9/11 sink in, nine months later, America is learning that perhaps the only portion of our security net that functioned as designed was the airport security system."

(...)

"Today, there is much sound and fury about airport security. It is something that people can easily see, something that makes the masses feel that the government is hard at work. Unfortunately, it is an extremely expensive sham. The age of hijackings is over. The next attack will be far different.

We are spending billions on security minions we don't need, and making travel more and more difficult for the public, which is adding to the financial pressures on the airlines.

Real airport security through explosives detection and layers of security are being held hostage by a bloated and bickering bureaucracy. Everyone has an idea about how to reorganize our intelligence systems, but everyone seems to feel that only their idea is correct. Our Senators and Congressmen are good at giving speeches but criminal in their political maneuvering that waylays real security.

A large part of deterrence is appearance. And there, we are woefully lacking. Between political grandstanding, newspaper editorials and articles detailing the difficulties in new technologies, the bad guys must be chuckling as they make future plans."

http://www.ticked.com/leocha/2002/misunderstood.htm