The Loonies Keep On Running The Asylum--And One Exception

By nature and education the Geek is a historian.  Specifically he is a historian of military, diplomatic, and national security affairs and affrays.  This means he has a broad vicarious experience with the idiocies, asininities, and flat out lunacies which have characterized the policies and actions of the US and other governments over the past few centuries.  In the direct experience department the Geek has witnessed up close and personal the witlessness of the same over a period of more than thirty years.

The Geek mentions these salient parts of his life neither to brag nor to buff his credibility in writing on the contemporary morass of US foreign, military, intelligence, and related policies.  Rather, it is to underscore his high tolerance for emotional and intellectual suffering.  Of late even this capacity has been sorely tested, tested beyond its Young's Modulus even.

The Obama administration is responsible for this unpleasant and unprecedented moment in the Geek's long and peripatetic life.  The Nice Young Man From Chicago and his numerous ideological soulmates as well as various and sundry mid-level minions have been involved in a farrago of ineptitude which not only boggle the mind but demand an impossible degree of willing suspension of disbelief if to be taken as the product of mature and considered judgement.

One illustration of the dynamics in play is the Don't-Touch-My-Junk explosion.  More accurately, it is the response of the TSA to the stand by one man in San Diego's airport.

The necessary starting point in any assessment of the TSA, or its parent outfit, Der Heimatsicherheitsamt to the unexpected Peasants' Revolt epitomized by the the Hero of "Don't touch my junk!" is simply acknowledging the foundation truth that the humiliation of passengers in the name of security adds not one whit of genuine safety to airline travel.  The "Strip or Grope" mentality is as functional in providing security as would be mammary glands on a bull.

While it is unfashionable in the social and political circles in which Mr Obama and his fellow travelers are welcome, the circles established by the self-appointed elites of academia, journalism, and the law, the down and dirty truth is airline security is threatened by a discrete and definable segment of the human race.  The nature of this segment is made clear in a recent report by one of those "executive security" consultancies.  The report (the Geek knows he should have a link here, but he made a series of wrong clicks and lost it--a misdemeanor augmented by his extreme laziness which precludes going back to find it) showed that in nine of the top ten terrorist infested countries, the terrorists were adherents of violent political Islam.  (The lone exception was Columbia.)

Anyway the cookie is crumbled, the vast majority of terrorist actions over the years since 9/11 (and most of the preceding twenty as well) were perpetrated by Muslims, practitioners of violent political Islam, AKA jihadis, jihadists, Islamists, Islamic separatists, radical extremists, and a host of other more or less euphemistic monikers.  This rather excludes most customers of American airlines.

To put it terms even one of the high school dropouts recruited by TSA: Potential terrorists are not randomly distributed among the population of the US.  Even when considering the problem of homegrown wannabe martyrs, the potential threat is limited to a very small and quite discrete group: Muslims.

This implies strongly that focusing efforts on the small population will not only save the majority of travelers from the studied humiliation and degradation of the "strip or grope" policy but have a far greater chance of actually stopping or deterring potential martyrdom seekers.  To put it in a politically incorrect way: Profiling is the answer.

Anyone with any experience in security, intelligence, or street policing--and many who lack that sort of hands-on experience--can attest that profiling is used everywhere and everyday by everyone responsible for law enforcement, security, and intelligence.  Heck, it is used everyday by all of us when deciding if we should cross the street to avoid an oncoming stranger--or answer a knock on the door in the hours of darkness.

Profiling is not racist.  It is not xenophobic.  It is an experience based means of rapidly and effectively organizing data, putting perceptions into a useful pattern, making quick and accurate appraisals of unexpected encounters.  It is part of the quotidian human experience.

The methods of identifying potential high risk travelers have been well established and are capable of continuous refinement.  The use of augmented profiling techniques by well trained and field experienced individuals has been use for years in Europe.  (The Geek has always been impressed by the virtually invisible middle aged men standing in a concourse observing while not seeming to do so, scanning the crowd for the one in a million or so people who is in genuine need of enhanced screening.)

Were it not for the ideology of hyper-sensitivity in American politics today, we would be doing the same, openly and proudly.  Were it not for the unintended but predictable consequences of the "politics of victimization" produced by the civil rights movement of the Sixties, we would be free to profile away and by doing so both enhance internal security and public trust in the organs of state.

Absent profiling and with a massive contempt for the public it is supposed to "protect," the TSA has fallen back on a defense in depth approach to guarding its sovereign authority to act the part of the bully.  As part of its defense the Tyrants have proudly trumpeted the "fact" that their screening has prevented 130 "dangerous or illegal" items from being brought on board aircraft.  The Tyrants would not identify the items, citing "security concerns" but did mention a ceramic knife and--hang on for this one, its a hoot--a hypodermic needle and syringe containing heroin.

Now heroin may be illegal, but is it a security threat?  A danger to the traveling public?  Does someone over at TSA or DHS envision the passenger rushing the cockpit, kicking in the reinforced door and then, while shouting, "Smackheads Rule!" running up both pilots with an OD?  Wowie!  Zowie!  Bet old Osama wishes he had thought of that one.

It is to be hoped that the Peasants' Revolt, the Don't-Touch-My-Junk movement will call a time out in the lunacy of TSA.  One can hope that it will occasion a rethinking of domestic air security so that manpower and money will be focused, focused on the real threats--the contents of the cargo bins and the intentions of individuals who meet the criteria of experienced based profiling.

Loony strike number two.  Think Pakistan.  As we all know from the uncountable assurances from usually credible people such as Secretary of Defense Gates and Secretary of State Clinton, Pakistan is not only our good ally in a common struggle against violent political Islam, but any "bad" things once done by the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) have been ended.  If those warranties were not enough then we must all be quieted in our apprehensions by the repeated statements from Pakistani officials to the effect that even if ISI had backed Taliban and the Haqqani network in the past, the boys in spookland were no longer doing so.

Right, dude, fer sure.

Comes now an article in The Nation which is hardly a bastion of right wing nut rantings.  The article details the direct involvement of ISI in the daily affairs of the Haqqani network and Taliban in Afghanistan.  Specifically, the article recounts the role played by ISI as a peacmaker between rival factions following the escape of NYT reporter David Rohde from his Afghan captors.  As the account deals with actions taken in recent months, the announcements of ISI's change of heart are, shall we say, called into doubt.

The reality is far divorced from the soothing mood music played without letup by the current administration and its assorted factotums or apologists.  Pakistan is not, repeat, not an ally in a common cause with the US and other civilized states.  It is a country the government of which is pursuing a narrowly defined national interest in Afghanistan which runs counter to the goals of both the Afghans and the US.  Pakistan's government and military cooperate with the US only to the minimal extent necessary to facilitate the flow of cash from Washington to Islamabad.

Unless and until the administration rectifies its totally erroneous stance regarding Pakistan, the effort in Afghanistan will be prolonged unnecessarily.  It is past time for President Obama to engage in some of that "hand to hand combat" which he seemed to relish with respect to Republicans only a few weeks ago but this time with Pakistan.  It is past time for the US to "tilt" even more in the direction of India.  It is past time for the US to let the Pakistanis know without any doubt that the days of the money flood are over.  It is past time for the administration to tell the Pakistanis clearly that unless they play we will no longer pay.

Lunacy, it has been argued, consists of doing the same thing over and over again even though the action brings no positive result.  That has been the case with our policy to Pakistan.  Just because the George W. Bush administration got it dead wrong in Pakistan is no excuse for the current bunch to keep on making the same disastrous mistakes.  Obama maintained that he was different from George W.  It is time he make it so regarding Pakistan.

Now for the one exception.  The US Marines are bringing fourteen M1 tanks to their area of operations.  This  move was first desired more than a year ago when the jarheads first entered Afghanistan in force.  At the time it was denied for fear it might alienate the locals with their memories of the armor heavy Soviet forces back in the Eighties.  The Marines renewed their request in recent months.  This time it was approved by General Petraeus.

He made the right call.

Generally armor is not too useful in counterinsurgency operations but in the present case it represents an important addition to the Marine's combat capacities.  The 120mm main gun on the M1 provides a long range, instant response direct fire capability quite useful in the open terrain areas currently under Marine tactical responsibility.  The direct fire is more accurate than indirect fire from artillery.  The tanks can move with the troops and be available faster than air delivered fire.  Finally, the accuracy of the 120 will limit the probability of collateral civilian casualties.

Fourteen tanks is not a massive number.  Most Afghans, even those in the Marine TAOR will be unaware of their presence.  Certainly the introduction of a company of MBTs is not a sign of desperation or impending defeat.  Rather, it is a belated and easily justified move which will tilt the advantage further in the favor of the Americans and their in-country ally.

The exception here underscores the sheer lunacy extant at the policy levels of the US government.  If only the folks topside had as firm a grip on the realities of the world as do the Marines and General Petraeus, we would all be better off.  Perhaps the difference between the realistic views down the food chain and the what-planet-are-they-living-on? perspectives demonstrated at the top arises from the fact that the guys way down deal with real matters, matters of winning or losing, living or dieing while Mr Obama and his associates have been breathing overly rarefied air, the air of the elite so long their brains have suffered as a result.

Life behind well polished desks or around glittering conference tables leads to a fatal lack of appreciating the exigencies of life in the real world.  The Marines and those responsible for their lives have lived long in the most grueling of environments.  As a result they lack the luxury so available to those at the highest level of government--the luxury of ignoring reality and embracing lunacy.

Tyrants Of Supreme Arrogance (TSA) Versus We The People

The most recent symbol of the ongoing war between the rights of American citizens and the myrmidons of the great fetish, security, is a mild looking software geek named John Turner.  His confrontation, including the utterly asinine threat by a Tyrant to see Turner hit with a ten kilobuck fine, is covered here.  It is a hoot--and a glowing lesson in the disconnect between the TSA and its master, the Heimatsicherheitsamt on the one hand and the majority of the traveling public on the other.

The cause of the San Diego resistance as well as a growing surge of discontent is the increased use of imaging technology which purports to see all through one's clothing as well as its complement, the "enhanced pat down."  The virtual nakedness produced by the microwave or X-ray backscatter machines is objectionable to many people as an unjustifiable invasion of the most intimate of our personal regions.

The objectionable nature of the machines is no way lessened by the lies regarding the capacity of the system to store, retrieve, or transmit images which have been peddled by TSA for months now.  Depending on the mode selected, the system either can or cannot store, retrieve, and transmit images captured from the traveling folks.  The person in the booth being scanned has no way of knowing which mode is operative.  Nor can one be certain, beyond the assurances of TSA, that there is no way a specific identity can be linked to a particular image.

The option of bypassing the scan is available.  Exercise of this requires that the candidate passenger submit to "enhanced pat down."  This involves a rather firm set of very unpleasant encounters between a Tyrant's hand and the upper segment of the groin as well as a tap on the butt rather too robust to be considered anything other than distasteful.  People under arrest or enjoying the hospitality of the corrections industry are well acquainted with the procedure.  Most of the flying public is not.  Nor are most desirous of becoming familiar with the gloved and groping hand of Authority.

Confronted with the choice of being virtually stripped or materially groped, Mr Tyner declined, brusquely but politely.  The Tyrants present objected mightily to the objection raised by the peasant with the effect that reinforcements were called, the local police arrived, and the uppity peasant was ordered to depart, to go hence into the blackness from which he crawled.  Upon doing so, the unworthy mere civilian was threatened with a civil suit and a ten thousand dollar fine.  Fortunately for Mr Tyner and the rest of us, the entire exchange was caught in audio on his cell phone.

The wave of protest regarding the latest TSA outrage has the Tyrants and their sovereign, Janet Napoleon, in full double down mode.  According to the flacks, the intrusions are utterly essential for our collective safety and peace of mind.  And, we are assured, both the grope and the strip are conducted in a "professional" manner by well trained "professionals."  Well, golly gee, that sure makes me feel better; how about you?

First and foremost the claim that the "strip-or-be-groped" approach enhances safety is specious at best.  Even  if the backscatter or microwave virtual strip machines were up to the task of detecting a bomb such as that carried by last December's "Underwear Bomber," they would not have detected the "Anus Bomb" which came within an ace of dispatching the Saudi Arabian head of security several months earlier.

The grope the groin and slap the ass method is no more efficacious.  An anally deployed bomb would slide on by the Tyrants without the slightest risk of being found.  Does this mean the next step will be a drill in three parts: (1) Drop your pants and bend over, (2) Spread your cheeks, (3) Try not to scream as I ream you out.

As the "Anus Bomb" and the "Underwear Bomb" were the products of the same bomb maker, it may be presumed that the Mighty Warriors Of The One True Faith are aware of the deeper alternative as well as the ease with which a martyrdom seeker so equipped can pass on through the phalanx of Tyrants.  As the bomb-maker-in-chief of AQAP was willing to use his own brother as the delivery system for the world's first anus bomb, it can be presumed as well that the man is up to the task again.

It also deserves mention that the TSA strip-or-get-groped tactic and the very expensive machines employed for the first option will have no effect in stopping the shipment of bombs as air cargo.  It was only days ago that the same maker of infernal machines attempted that gambit only to be thwarted by Saudi intelligence and quick work by security personnel at two foreign airports.  It might be prudent for TSA to expend the money and manpower on the less glamorous but more exacting task of inspecting cargo of all sorts in lieu of herding and humiliating human passengers.

The Geek has had the opportunity to see the methods of American and foreign passenger screening methods from an up close and personal perspective.  While countries such as the Netherlands and Israel do possess genuinely well trained and quite professional security personnel on frontline duty, such is not the case here.  In airports large and small, crowded, and nearly deserted, the US version of frontline passenger security remains what it has been from the beginning--the preserve of poorly trained, excessively egoed folks some of whom have only the most nodding of acquaintance with standard English.  What they lack in intelligence, education, empathy, or the slightest vestige of any attribute meriting the appellation "professional" they more than compensate for with an inclination toward the temper of the bully.  Apparently unable to make the cut for the job of warder in a backwoods country jail, they have had no recourse for their personality and skills beyond joining the TSA.

In short, the human dimension of security for the domestic air transport system is as flawed as the technological.  The circle-the-wagons attitude exhibited recurrently by the senior management and executives of both TSA and the Department of Homeland Security is an indirect but quite unmistakable indication that the folks topside in both organs are aware that for all the money and all the new hires, they have failed miserably.

The first line of our defense is today what it has been for years--offshore intelligence.  The last line is today what it has been for years and what was exhibited by the desperate heroism high over Pennsylvania farmland or on the approach to Detroit's airport--the passengers.  The very passengers who are seen by TSA as a type of scum to be threatened and humiliated.

Cheers for John Tyner.  And, boos to TSA