How lucky we are when our problems are trivial! Flying to Istanbul on Christmas Day, my only complaint was that Turkish Airlines had seated me next to a large, burly man instead of a lovely Czech supermodel. Had I instead been flying to Detroit that same day, I would have come close to being blown up.
It was only a matter of time before this happened. When air passenger Richard Reid was arrested in December 2001 for trying to light explosives in his shoes, all of us had to start undressing at airports. Columnists joked that the “shoe bomber” would be followed by the “underwear bomber”.
Well, the underwear bomber has arrived, and we’re all due for full-body scans now.
Somehow, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab got some explosives through security. Somehow, the different intelligence agencies knew about him, but weren’t sharing their information. Somehow, the Department of Homeland Security, created for just such a situation, wasn’t doing its job.
But abroad, the United States has been doing a lot. The Obama administration won’t use George W. Bush’s name, the “global war on terror”, but that war is in full swing. I’m not talking about Iraq or Afghanistan; those were distractions. The real action is in Somalia, Pakistan and now Yemen.
Three new fronts
In 2006, the US supported Ethiopian troops that marched into southern Somalia, where Islamic militants had taken over. Several times from 2007 to 2009, the US engaged in air strikes, killing various leaders.
Barack Obama was criticized for promising to follow troublemakers from Afghanistan into Pakistan. But for months now, American drones and missiles — first without, then (after it complained) with, Pakistan’s permission — have been flying through Pakistan’s airspace to get to the impenetrable Waziristan region, where Al Qaeda’s leaders are believed to be.
Abdulmutallab’s antics followed a US air strike on a gathering of terrorists in Yemen a week earlier. Since 2000, when Al Qaeda blew a hole in the Navy destroyer USS Cole, which was refueling in Aden, the CIA has been watching Yemen very closely.
The next front may be Uzbekistan. Uzbeks have started to step in for Al Qaeda’s Arab leaders as those move from Pakistan to Yemen and Somalia.
Keeping it secret
As this happens, we won’t hear much. Nary a reporter gets to the front lines, and the stories are often denied or their details kept murky — mainly to protect cooperative Arab governments from retaliation. Americans, too, are best kept in the dark, lest they start thinking about the cost of all those cruise missiles and the possibility of troops on the ground in even more countries.
For now, the military is doing its part. Citizens can do their part by refusing to live in terror, which is what the terrorists — by definition — want. The airlines can do their part as well — even though none of this is their fault.
You see, given the additional inconvenience, they should really be screaming for our business. So they can start by being extra-nice to us. They can go back to not charging for checked bags, as all major US airlines do on domestic flights now. They can go back to hiring more flight attendants to keep an eye on passengers, like they used to do. And they can finally give us seats wide enough for the burliest of men — and maybe even invite a few of those Czech supermodels to fly with us.
Update, January 7: Read how the FBI treated the brave passengers who saved Flight 253: no food or phone calls for five hours. “Thank you for saving the day. Now go sit down.”
And don’t fly through Slovakia. You never know what might happen.
