Well, that’s one conclusion that could be drawn from the recent events involving Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. After all, the number of would-be terrorists who have been apprehended attempting to smuggle explosives on a plane approaches zero; the number of would-be terrorists who have succeeded in smuggling explosives on a plane also approaches zero; and the number of terrorists who have succeeded in detonating explosives on a plane is zero.
But of course no one is arguing that. Instead, professional hysterics like the Washington Post, Sen. Joe Lieberman, and the entire cast of the Republican Party have worked themselves into a full mouth-froth that will take at least a month to dry. The Obama Administration, in the meantime, will have to announce new “get tough” measures against a near-nonexistent threat, as well as, we may sure, serving up the head of Janet “the system worked” Napolitano. Well, the first duty of the chief of Homeland Security is not to say anything totally stupid, and poor Janet flunked that test with a bang. Janet, honey, if you were expecting a Rose Garden when you took the job, I have to tell you, there’s only one in DC, and it belongs to the President. And Obama, if I read him right, really isn’t the sharing kind.
Afterwords
Could Abdulmutallab have done much damange with his two ounces (80 grams) of high explosive? We’re told that he could have blown a hole in the cabin of the plane. By detonating it in his underwear? Perhaps he could have made a hole (in the plane, not himself) under “ideal” circumstances, but how likely would that be? And how big would the hole be? And how much danger would it create for the plane? The Wash Post and NYT, not to mention more excitable types, don’t want to consider these kinds of questions. They eagerly thrust worst-case scenarios upon us, without the slightest discussion of probabilities. It’s almost enough to make one think ill of human nature.
