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OpEdNews Op Eds    H3'ed 5/16/11

Patting Down Babies~Bin Laden Wins Anyway

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We may have killed Osama Bin Laden. We even may have crippled his organization, at least in AfPak. But the damage he and his cohorts have done to this country will be with us forever. The days of just taking a walk without a cop asking for identification are over. People are being kicked off of planes, like the Muslims who were thrown off an airplane in North Carolina because passengers complained they were dressed as Muslins, for no other reason whatsoever. Even after being searched, the pilot still refused to let them board. 
The picture above is TSA agents patting down a baby. They say "We reviewed the screening of this family, and found that the child's stroller set off alarms". Did they ever stop to think it might just be the smell coming from the baby's diaper. That would be just as likely that this baby had bombs in it's diaper. Seriously, this is taking the safety of the public a little too far. My father always told me you can be the smartest man in the world, but without common sense, you can't find your way back home. It's time for a little common sense to be used in this country.
According to the TSA, "Terrorists are willing to manipulate societal norms to evade detection. TSA  has been actively assessing less invasive screening methods for low-risks populations, such as younger passengers, while still maintaining a high level of security". Bull! I have seen videos of the agents patting down an 85 year old woman. A little 10 year old girl who had a small tank top on that couldn't have hidden a flea. Give me a break!
After 9-11, and the passengers and pilots on the planes doing everything they were told because these guys had a box cutter, the days of being taken down by a lone person with a knife or even a gun are over. When the passengers of the plane that went down in Pennsylvania heard what was happening to the other planes, and that brave man said "Let's Roll", the days of hi-jacked planes were over.
Never again are men and women going sit back and let a few people decide their fate. There will be no more flying into buildings again. But Osama Bin Laden changed the world and cost us trillions of dollars. That is the only legacy he has left.
We as a society have to quit being so damned scared of everything that the government tells us. Bush/Cheney started this "Fear Nation", by making every speech they gave about terrorism and being afraid, even predicting "Mushroom Clouds". Yes, we are going to have another plane go down. We may well have a bomb on a train that takes some people out. Even the pipe bombs in cars parked beside buildings may take some peoples lives, but they are really meant to terrorize more than to kill.
His goal was to keep this nation paranoid and to keep us spending our national treasure on full body scans that will cost billions of dollars and every other invention that companies hired by Haliburton or other companies connected to politicians can come up with.
My friends, we cannot be wrapped in a protective bubble every time we leave our homes.  Sooner or later, something is going to get through and kill some people. The odds are in their favor. We can only do what we can do and not go crazy and pat down babies and little old ladies looking for bombs, that is just plain stupid. 
Either way, Bin Laden accomplished his goal. To kill and terrorize Americans. He may have accomplished more than he would have ever imagined if we continue to let him scare and terrorize us. We have done all that is humanely possible to protect our airports. But there are thousands of other potential sites that are much worse.
Nuclear power plants that are barely guarded. Universities in possession of nuclear material guarded by a retired police officer sitting at desk and asking for a person's I.D. before granting them permission to enter. Chemical plants? There are really too many dangerous targets in this country to count.
 
We have to get over this fear of death if we are to live a life of freedom. We can't let the fear of terrorists taking hostages put the fear of death into us all. To the TSA agents, use some common sense. If patting down babies and and old ladies is the only way we can be free, then we seriously have to re-adjust our priorities
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My name is Kenneth Sibbett and I've been writing all my life. While writing mostly fiction and short stories, I have written many, many articles concerning the welfare of this country and the currents events going on around the world. I was born in (more...)
 
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