America Hits Puberty
by Amelia Cronan
An analysis of airport security policies prior to 9-11 answers questions concerning the reasons behind new "Baggage-Screener" legislation. Furthermore, an analysis of public sentiment following the attacks illustrates the immediate, nationwide need to unify against a foreign threat.
For many Americans, the attacks of
September 11, 2001, crossed comfort boundaries by invading the safety-zone
in which the American culture thrives. Airplane crashes and explosions
were indeed nothing new, and even relatively commonplace news items on
late-night television. The idea of terrorism itself seemed to be a distant
threat and nothing that could ever really cripple America. Despite the
fact that two other major events triggered legislation designed to prevent
future problems, the attacks of September 11 proved that the existing
policies did not work, and moreover, that Americans were willing to
surrender their established values in the wake of a new, more visible
threat. An analysis of airport security policies prior to September 11
answers questions concerning the reasons behind Bush's "Baggage-Screener"
legislation; furthermore, an analysis of public sentiment following the
attacks illustrates the immediate, nationwide need to unify against a
foreign threat-a need which simultaneously undermines the sacred American
values of individual liberty and self-determination.
On July 17, 1996, TWA Flight 800 crashed and burned off
the coast of Long Island, New York, killing all 229 people aboard. In the
days immediately following this crash, it remained unclear as to whether
the failure was mechanical or the manifestation of a deliberate terrorist
plot. It turned out to be a mechanical problem, but it raised significant
issues detailing dangerous flaws in airport security.1 It
prompted the federal government to pass the Anti Terrorism Act of 1996,
which
"authorized the United States government one billion dollars over five years for various federal, state, and local government programs to prevent, combat, or deal with terrorism in the United States and abroad; in particular, authorizes $468 million for the FBI counter terrorism and counterintelligence efforts, and authorizes $20 million for the INS to deport criminal aliens."2
Thus, government's response to this new security threat was to essentially throw money at law enforcement agencies to detect the presence of terrorist activities and silence them without giving much thought to the threats to airports and airline security. This policy mistakenly assumed that it could actually prevent terrorism, and thereby encouraged the government to focus on people and their ideas instead of actually improving airport security.
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