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posted by martyb on Sunday June 04 2017, @08:53PM   Printer-friendly
from the is-there-a-solution-that-is-less-bad-than-the-problem? dept.

If it seems like every week, there's another terrorist attack – well, you're not wrong. According to one crowdsourcing map, there have been over 500 attacks around the world since the start of 2017, with over 3,500 fatalities. For a period in 2016, ISIS-initiated attacks were occurring, on average, every 84 hours.

Despite improvements in methods and coordination among law enforcement agencies over the past 25 years, they're still hamstrung in a number of ways. With large public gatherings of people becoming more attractive targets for terrorists, what are the best strategies moving forward?

[...] But despite huge budgets and the presence of thousands of added security personnel, it's virtually impossible to prevent a determined terrorist, or guarantee absolute safety. While security efforts for events like the Olympic Games have escalated, terrorists today no longer wait for major events that draw global interest.

[...] The odds are in favor of terrorists. All they have to do is succeed once, no matter how many times they try. For public safety professionals to be fully successful, they have to prevent 100 percent of the terror attempts. It's a number to aspire to, but even the most experienced countries fighting terror – such as Israel and the U.K. – can't measure up to this standard.

[...] These days, it's necessary to consider any place where crowds congregate as vulnerable "soft targets" for the attackers. To better prepare for securing soft targets (and this isn't to say threats against "hard targets," like planes, buildings and infrastructure, have diminished) law enforcement agencies must improve coordination among one another, whether it's via intelligence, information sharing and training. And then there's the need for deconfliction, which refers to avoiding self-defeating behavior – from interagency rivalries and poor communication to insufficient coordination – by people who are on the same side.

[...] Given that there is no way to guarantee complete safety, and that the threat assessment expects more attacks, there are two more elements that ought to receive more attention: community resilience and community policing.

https://theconversation.com/how-can-we-better-protect-crowds-from-terrorism-78443

[Related]:

1996 Atlanta Olympic Games: https://www.britannica.com/event/Atlanta-Olympic-Games-bombing-of-1996

Secure Airport Design: https://skift.com/2016/07/04/how-smart-airport-design-can-make-spaces-more-secure/

Do you agree with this assessment of the security situation ? What do you think could be done to mitigate the effects of such asymmetric warfare ?


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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by inertnet on Sunday June 04 2017, @11:24PM (8 children)

    by inertnet (4071) on Sunday June 04 2017, @11:24PM (#520440) Journal

    Always deport the immediate family of 'successful' terrorists.

    No need to deport more than those, just the ones who failed to educate their own. And those who preach violence.

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  • (Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Sunday June 04 2017, @11:52PM (2 children)

    by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Sunday June 04 2017, @11:52PM (#520449)

    Why stop at deporting them? Why not drone them? If they're dead, they won't be able to raise more terrorists or become terrorists themselves. It's the perfect solution, I say! It's a good thing western society is finally opening up to collective punishment.

    • (Score: 2) by kaszz on Monday June 05 2017, @07:32AM (1 child)

      by kaszz (4211) on Monday June 05 2017, @07:32AM (#520617) Journal

      Drone warfare in normal housing areas? There are neighbors that are normal UK citizens and have nothing do with this. Key word: Collateral.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 05 2017, @01:25PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 05 2017, @01:25PM (#520718)

        Holy shit.
        The fact that you took the joke literally is bad enough.
        But then you explained why it was a bad idea without recognizing that the exact same logic applies to their families too.
        I think you should see a doctor because you've got a massive, probably even fatal, irony deficiency.

  • (Score: 1) by tftp on Monday June 05 2017, @12:48AM

    by tftp (806) on Monday June 05 2017, @12:48AM (#520482) Homepage

    And those who preach violence.

    The freedom of speech may make it impossible.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 05 2017, @01:51AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 05 2017, @01:51AM (#520504)

    Oh yes, let's prosecute people for the sins of their fathers. We'll show those terrorists how much better we are than their 4th century worldviews by regressing to 1st century worldviews. Huzzah for progress!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 05 2017, @07:35AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 05 2017, @07:35AM (#520618)

      Obviously they were raising those children in bad faith and to be violent against the country that let them in as guests. Also keep in mind that their mindset is a collective and clan one. They won't reason like you and I.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 05 2017, @01:28PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 05 2017, @01:28PM (#520721)

        Also keep in mind that their mindset is a collective and clan one. They won't reason like you and I.

        Hello?
        You are literally advocating for collective punishment.
        You literally just reasoned exactly the way you accuse them of reasoning.
        The lack of self-awareness among you islamafoes is a dreadful wonder to behold.

  • (Score: 2) by looorg on Monday June 05 2017, @01:54PM

    by looorg (578) on Monday June 05 2017, @01:54PM (#520737)

    You would probably want to do it for "failed" terrorists to. It would probably be a powerful form of social control, which we know is already a thing and it works. Family and clan matters to these people. Getting killed as a terrorists is these days almost a guarantee, it's part of the plan. They know their family will, probably, still be safe and keep enjoying the benefits of the western, welfare, system.

    If they after their terrorist attack knew that their entire immediate family and close relatives would be instantly deported and have whatever citizenship they acquired revoked then it becomes somewhat less of an attractive idea to go on a suicide run. If their family is not in Europe I guess their clan and family could just be drone-striked instead. There would be a lot of collateral damage but it might have a massive effect on the willingness to go to Europe to slaughter people for Allah. Yes, it would probably also create a few new terrorists but in a numbers and control game it would probably make it a lot less attractive to become a terrorist if you know all, or most of, your family (brothers, sisters, parents, cousins, grandparents ...) is going to be wiped out or sent back home to whatever country they came from.