This morning, NPR talked about a small town in Vermont that straddles the U.S.-Canadian border and how the Department of Homeland Security is changing the border security there. The locals are unhappy that they, who cross the border frequently, cannot do so easily any longer. They need passports and are subject to lengthy searches… every time they enter the U.S.
I feel their pain; I really do. I hate every time the government big brother interferes with my life. But, in this case, I’m not so sure that the government is wrong or that the common folk are right.
Consider that it does not take all that many terrorists and only one WMD (which doesn’t have to be all that big) to kill a whole lot of people in this country. Consider also that terrorist notoriously work the soft targets meaning they attack points of vulnerability in our defenses. That includes choosing where to “attack” the U.S. border. If there is a point, perhaps a quaint Vermont farming town of infinitesimal population, where border security consists of a wave, eventually the terrorists will locate it. Once they do, then how hard is it to send two guys in a Buick with a WMD in the trunk across the border at that point. Washington, New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and many of our other major metropolises stand nearby. You do the math.
Do I like having vice-like security at borders and airports? Of course not; I hate it. But I am afraid it may be necessary.
No comments:
Post a Comment