Preventing the Unpreventable

New York security under scrutiny after plane crash - 12 Oct 2006 at 3:02pm - NEW YORK (AFP) - The crash of a light plane into a New York highrise has raised new questions about security in the still-jittery city, five years after the September 11 terror attacks. Ever since the attacks, planes have faced restrictions around Manhattan, National Guard units have been on patrol in the city's stations and subway passengers have been subject to random bag searches. Further measures have seen traffic using the bridges and tunnels into the city being put under increased surveillance, while special security has been put in place around public landmarks, especially during public gatherings. But the ability of a small plane Wednesday to penetrate that shield and plough into a building has drawn attention to the city's vulnerability.

All of which underscores the futility of trying to prevent terrorism altogether. Which is not to say that no steps should be taken in attempting to eliminate vulnerabilities. But part of what makes terrorism "terroristic" is the extent to which it is unpreventable.

It's not as if the CIA had been tracking Lidle and Stanger for years, or as if there had been a PDB warning of an impending attack on the U.S. by Yankees pitchers.

Senate Report: Five NGOs Sold Clout to Abramoff - 12 Oct 2006 at 2:56pm - Five conservative nonprofit organizations, including one run by prominent Republican Grover Norquist, "perpetrated a fraud" on taxpayers by selling their clout to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Senate investigators said in a report issued today.

Guantanamo unacceptable - Beckett - 12 October 2006, 13:54 GMT 14:54 UK - Guantanamo Bay should be closed down, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has said during a speech on human rights. The US detention camp did as much to radicalise new extremists as it did to promote security, Mrs Beckett said.