Two men of Middle Eastern appearance raised suspicion when they were on a plane. . They were taken off a flight bound for Manchester after some passengers became alarmed about what they regarded as suspicious behaviour. Then they were allowed to resume their journey.
From this incident, it seems appearance is not the only criteria needed to become suspicious of someone based on their race or clothes or even their look. A would be terrorist can be of European decent, recruited by a group. They can use him to blow up a plane if he escapes stringent security measures. There was the case of John Walker, the American caught in Afghanistan in 2001 fighting with the Taliban. There was the case of John Reid who had explosives in his shoes. In Morocco, after the terrorist attack in Casablanca on May 16th, 2003, a Frenchman was found among the terrorist group that was behind the attack.
It is not enough to mount strict measures just in UK and USA to face terror on flight. The same measures should be in all international airports. If a terrorist can’t make it in UK, he will try his “chance” in another major airport where there are American airliners.
A would-be terrorist can look cheerful on the flight without raising any suspicion, engaging in a lively conversation and telling jokes. What is needed is thorough examination of passengers and the detection of would-be terrorists before even they get close to the airport. Once all the passengers are stripped of any suspicious material before they get on the plane, any suspicion will be just the result of paranoia
No comments:
Post a Comment