United States Pirate Party

 
On December 25th, 2009 an explosive device carried by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab failed to properly detonate aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 as it was approaching Detroit. No lives were lost and Abdulmutallab was placed in custody and is being charged with placing a destructive device in proximity to and attempting to destroy a US civil aircraft.
Even though the explosive failed to detonate as planned, and the airplane was left undamaged by the device, the attack might still become a success. While individual participants of terrorism might be motivated by the desire to inflict pain and death, the overriding motivation behind terrorism is simply terror. The goal of an attack like this is to make people change their way of life by using fear. That fear is the driving force behind the changes that are being considered to keep us “safe”.
 
The determining factor that decides if an attack was a “success” or a “failure” is not the actual attack, but rather the response to that attack. That response starts with the leaders of our country. If our leaders react in fear, then the attack should be considered a success even though the plane landed safely and Abdulmutallab is currently in custody. If the attack scares our leaders into disregarding the rights of their citizens, then the attack should be considered a success. If the leaders of our government pass laws that treat ordinary citizens like criminals and potential terrorists, then the attack should be considered a success.
 
Our leaders have passed laws allowing them to listen in on our conversation. Our government built the tools it needs to monitor our internet traffic and read our electronic correspondence without our knowledge, in order to keep us safe from terrorists. Our government forces us to file up single line, remove our shoes and belts, empty our pockets and allow strangers to search our personal belongings without a warrant. They say that this will keep us safe from the people that we fear. After each attack using an airplane, our leaders have reacted defensively and increased the tools that treat every person like a potential terrorist. After every action that resulted in our loss of privacy and liberty, another attack occurred.
 
In December of 2001, following the passage of the Patriot Act, Richard Reid attempted to detonate explosive hidden in his shoe on American Airlines flight 63. He was stopped by passengers and was unable to set of his explosive device, but judging by the lines of barefoot passengers lining up in front of metal detectors his attack should be considered a success. We remove our shoes and belts and send them on a trip through scanners that are unable to detect the explosives that were used in the attack.
 
In 2006 British Police arrested 25 suspects with connections to a plot using liquid explosives to destroy transatlantic flights. The attack was stopped before it even began and had the potential to be a failure. But judging by the actions of our leaders the attack should be considered a success. Airport trashcans are overflowing with discarded bottles of liquids, thrown away by travelers who are not potential terrorists by bringing a bottle of soda to the airport. Our leaders are scared that your bottle of water will destroy your airplane and TSA agents will make sure that you will be selected for secondary screening for bringing a potential explosive to the gate.
 
Now our leaders have the opportunity to decide if they will react to this latest attack. Will they choose to act motivated by fear, or will they choose to honor the privacy and liberty of their citizens. Full Body Scanners have slowly been installed in airports around the world. These scanners will keep you safe by allowing TSA agents to see you naked to make sure you are not hiding any weapons or explosives. Radiation is used to see through your clothing, and while our leaders say that your face is blurred out, the rest of your body will be on screen in a virtual naked state. These pictures are to be deleted after each passenger, and the agents are not supposed to know the identity of the nude pictures. At this time it seems like this attack might cause our leaders to require that passengers undergo a digital version of taking off their clothes, putting a paperback over their head to conceal their identity, and then walk past TSA agents that will look through their clothes and look at their body to make sure they are not terrorists. If our leaders decide that we are just one step away from being strip searched in order to fly on a commercial airliner, then this might become the most successful terrorist attack yet.
 
But regardless of the actions taken by our leaders, the final decision that determines if an attack will be a failure or a success will always be in our hands. The decisions that are made by our leaders will affect every aspect of our lives. The Constitution provides us with rights such as privacy and freedom from search without a warrant. Flying on a commercial airliner does not equal reasonable cause to be searched without a warrant. Terrorists will always be successful if we allow ourselves to be scared into giving up our rights, our privacy, and our liberty. If we continue to let the Government treat us like potential criminals, then we have given the terrorists what they are after. The terrorists are trying to create fear, and because we are fearful we let the Government do whatever it wants in order to keep us safe. The great people who founded this nation knew that certain rights should never be taken away.
 
Death is not the ultimate goal of terrorism, it is only the tool used to create fear. If we act in fear, and voluntarily give up our rights to allow the Government to protect us, then we are surrendering the only thing that is worth protecting in the first place.
 
Marcus Kesler
Pirate Party of the State of Oklahoma