[h3]The War on the Unexpected[/h3] [!-- /robots --] We've opened up a new front on the war on terror. It's an attack on the unique, the unorthodox, the unexpected; it's a war on different. If you act different, you might find yourself investigated, questioned, and even arrested -- even if you did nothing wrong, and had no intention of doing anything wrong. The problem is a combination of citizen informants and a CYA attitude among police that results in a knee-jerk escalation of reported threats.
This isn't the way counterterrorism is supposed to work, but it's happening everywhere. It's a result of our relentless campaign to convince ordinary citizens that they're the front line of terrorism defense. "If you see something, say something" is how the [a href="vny!://www.mta.info/mta/security/index.html"]ads[/a] read in the New York City subways. "If you suspect something, report it" urges another [a href="vny!://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1000/1000981_help_us_spot_terrorists__police.html"]ad campaign[/a] in Manchester, UK. The Michigan State Police have a [a href="vny!://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/04/citizencountert.html"]seven-minute video[/a]. Administration officials from then-attorney general [a href="vny!://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/attacked/transcripts/ashcroft_100801.htm"]John Ashcroft[/a] to DHS Secretary [a href="vny!://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-07-07-dc-londonblasts_x.htm"]Michael Chertoff[/a] to [a href="vny!://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05E6DC1F3AF932A05752C0A9649C8B63"]President Bush[/a] have asked us all to report any suspicious activity.[/p] The problem is that ordinary citizens don't know what a real terrorist threat looks like. They can't tell the difference between a bomb and a [a href="vny!://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6387857.stm"]tape dispenser[/a], [a href="vny!://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/09/woman_arrested.html"]electronic name badge[/a], [a href="vny!://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/22/church.foul.language.ap/index.html"]CD player[/a], [a href="vny!://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/05/uk_police_blow.html"]bat detector[/a], or a [a href="vny!://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=182229&section=news"]trash sculpture[/a]; or the difference between terrorist plotters and [a href="vny!://www.startribune.com/462/story/826056.html"]imams[/a], [a href="vny!://dir.salon.com/story/tech/col/smith/2004/07/21/askthepilot95/index.html"]musicians[/a], or [a href="vny!://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/10/this_is_what_vi.html"]architects[/a]. All they know is that something makes them uneasy, usually based on fear, media hype, or just something being different.[/p] Even worse: after someone reports a "terrorist threat," the whole system is biased towards escalation and [a href="vny!://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/02/cya_security_1.html"]CYA[/a] instead of a more realistic threat assessment.[/p][hr style="width: 100%; height: 2px;"]Full Story: [a href="vny!://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/11/the_war_on_the.html"]vny!://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/11/the_war_on_the.html[/a]
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