Good News -- Unless So Much Good News is Bad News

Hold your breath, hold your breath, but the top national security reporter in the country says the level of threats is lower now than it has been for quite some time. The article, including the descriptions of why people believe this might be the case, and why they're reluctant to say things are okay, let's relax, is clear and nuanced, and I strongly recommend it (boy, I'm loading you guys up with reading this morning.)

Anyway, I have a friend with a background in intelligence who says the best security protection we have at airports is the American public -- that no one will ever again take an American plane.

I thought of that when I read this, which I found quite reassuring:

Public vigilance remains high, at least in major cities, officials said. This winter, for example, FBI agents were called to investigate when workers at a Northern Virginia hospital grew suspicious of two men who asked about nighttime staffing levels, ostensibly because they were considering whether their new doughnut shop should stay open 24 hours.

It turned out the men had, in fact, obtained a new doughnut franchise, two security officials said.

"Could what happened with the 9/11 operators in the pre-event stage happen today and nobody pick up on it? No, I don't think so," said Cathy Lanier, head of special operations for the D.C. Police Department. "If they went through the same surveillance practices, forged documents, they would be picked up somehow. Along the line, there would be red flags, and I would say there is probably a good chance the red flags would have come through the public and not law enforcement or other sources."

But none of this means it's time to become complacent:

Several officials in urban areas that are considered prime targets, said they worried most about what law enforcement is not detecting. "I'm not so comforted" by the drop in intelligence warnings coming out of Washington, said one senior U.S. intelligence official based elsewhere. "I'm concerned about what is going on under our radar scope. And I'm worried about the radar scope."

We need to remember we still live in the New Normal:

D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey, who co-chairs the homeland security committee for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, cautions that "complacency can settle in the further we get from 9/11. We tend to think everything is normal. I don't feel that way."

Ramsey said he believes the Homeland Security color code will never go below its current level of yellow, which denotes an "elevated" threat level.

"We will never be at green again," Ramsey said. "Normal was redefined on 9/11. Normal is yellow."

There's a suggestion that the quiet is al Queda's "tactical pause."

We need to find a place somewhere between perpetually taut and James Jesus Angleton I guess.

Nobody said the New Normal was going to be easy.

Comments

[Richard Aubrey]

The terrs aren't going to take an airliner. There's a lot of stuff they aren't going to take, now. You don't have to be a frequent flier to think about what Flight 93 means. Not just courage, but the ability to make decisions on the spot about immediate situations.
I don't know if it's more reporting, or more likely attention, but there seem to be more incidents of individuals taking initiative. There was a case in Florida some time ago where a twelve-year-old girl took down a purse-snatcher and the police chief of the jurisdiction opined it was partly the 9-11 mentality.

I would like to see the press look into this entire subject of citizen defense. Some of us are concerned about legal issues. If I intervene in a mugging, can the mugger sue me for his injuries? Can I be jailed? Florida now has a new law removing the duty to retreat while in a public space. Is that true in my state? What does it mean? What is the Good Samaritan Law? Does it apply to citizen's arrest? Those with CCW permits have extensive instruction in such matters, but how about the guy who doesn't have a CCW but does have a pipe wrench handy? The Teamsters have apparently worked out an arrangement where their drivers are trained on what to look for (propane tanker parked under a bridge, for example) and given numbers to call. What should the rest of us look for? How does the local 911 dispatcher react to hearing somebody's at the gate of the Sunoco bulk plant at 3:30 in the morning?
For all the drama and courage on Flight 93, the fact remains that the issues were abundantly unambiguous.
The rest of us would appreciate some input.
Aside from Underperformin' Norman Mineta's insistence that granny in a wheelchair be treated as rudely as possible, Homeland Security has emitted only fog on this issue.

[dauber]

All excellent pts. They've been so reluctant to say anything lest they tell the terrorists what they think a terrorist looks like and permit them to evade the tell tale signs, that all they've ever told the rest of us is to "be alert."

For what?

[Frank]

I love you so much! Great place to visit!