Terrorism Of The Mind
It has been interesting to watch the effectiveness of mere suggestion of terrorism and what it has
done to the government officialdom and the American public during the past holiday season.
Over-reaction by Tom Ridge and his Homeland Security people, because of what may have been planted
e-mails, telephone conversations and other tips through sophisticated electronic bugging, all but wrecked the pleasure of
the holidays and certainly pushed world airlines closer to bankruptcy.
While the CIA, FBI and Homeland Security forces were frantically attempting to "catch" the would-be
hijackers aboard various named planes in the United Kingdom, France and Mexico, Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda terrorists
must have been enjoying the show.
The issue: why should anyone bother sending a real terrorist when a well-planted suggestion that
one might be boarding a specific aircraft can cause so much havoc?
Think of the insecurity felt by thousands of airline passengers as flights were unexpectedly stopped,
searched, and sometimes cancelled for no given reason. Think of the hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenues to the
airlines because of those interrupted flights, not only as they happened, but in the aftermath due to the bad publicity.
If the terrorists are attempting to stop the free flow of world travel and possibly destroy the
network of world airline travel in and out of the United States, they have clearly found the perfect tool. It is called the
psychology of fear mixed with the politics of government officialdom. How can Mr. Ridge do anything else when he is publicly
assigned to make sure a real terrorist isnt on those aircraft?
Think too of the millions of taxpayer dollars spent in military and police security employed at
Times Square, the various bowl football games and other celebrated public events. The security around those places was so
tight even the spectators had trouble getting in without having government clearance.
I for one would have had a hard time feeling relaxed and having a good time attending any one of
those events.
The whole terrorist story has escalated since the events of 9-11. The Bush Administration has virtually
declared war against the entire Moslem world, even coming to the point of singling out certain foreign visitors for extra
screening. Yet to this day, nobody has ever produced any proof that Osama bin Laden or any other so-called
terrorist leader was responsible for the attack.
In the meantime, there is a growing suspicion by many Americans that there may be much more to that
attack than meets the eye.
