The Hypocrisy of security
Every decade, Americans get beaten over the head with a word. Not just any word, but the mantra of a politician in full coercion mode. Sometimes it's incorporated into a highly forgettable slogan (anyone remember Ford's WIN--Whip Inflation Now?) Sometimes it's just the word that's weaved into every speech and whispered in every dark alley and trust me--in Washington, there's a lot of both of them.
For many years, it was Communist. You could raise the hackles of most middlish (age, class, western) Americans by suggesting that the Reds were flouridating the water, pushing dope, taking over SouthEast Asia.
Now of course it's terrorists. But the word behind the word is security. Every action taken by this administration has been justified because of security. Invade Iraq? Security. Sorry, can't talk about domestic surveillance. Security.
The problem with this approach is that it's inconsistent.
The pending sale of a port contractor to a Dubai-based firm should be viewed as a security issue, but it's not.
The American train system should have a workable security system, but it doesn't
The state of infosecurity of the country's computer systems should be fixed, especially government servers, but it hasn't been.
Security should be consistent and managed to achieve pre-agreed upon objectives. We should protect our countries critical infrastructure from sabotage. This includes our ports, our trains and our computer networks. This is a lot more significant than fingernail clippers on airplanes.
Posted on February 21, 2006
