Now that the so-called “liquid terrorists” (who came up with that description?) have been foiled, it must be time to increase our security measures yet again. Never mind that almost all forms of liquid– as well as common carry-on items like laptops, cameras, and iPods– are now banned from airline flights. That’s not enough, oh no.
Secretary of Homeland Insecurity Chertoff said this:
Warrants, ha ha! That’s so antiquated, so “Twentieth Century”. Who needs ’em?
Never mind that the British intelligence service had been following these guys for almost a year, and only (grudgingly) made the sting last week at the insistence of the Bush administration. Chertoff’s assertion that they were “nimble” makes it seem like they received a tip and immediately scrambled the Harriers or something. Not true.
It’s also worth mentioning that the British obtained warrants for their work, are required by law to do so, and unlike their American counterparts, don’t seem to feel the need to flaunt the law and go behind the curtain to do their dirty work. And yet… somehow… they were still able to apprehend these terrorists… within the bounds of the law.
For Chertoff, Bush, Gonzales, and the rest of the jolly crew to continue insisting that the federal government requires more latitude, less oversight, and no warrants is nothing short of an obvious abuse of power at this point. The British have shown us how it can be done… and to use their long, hard work as an example of why we should ignore the laws is insulting.