I really don’t want to get political . . .
… and I hope you’ll agree that this is really more about stupidity than politics. In any case, this isn’t a very humorous post (unless you can laugh at bureaucracy in action).
Lighters have been banned in checked luggage for years, and now (as of today) the TSA has also banned them in the cabin of airplanes. We’re told that the idea behind the lighter ban is that “terrorist groups could use lighters as a weapon to control or take down an aircraft.” While this was indeed attempted by Richard Reid on a trans-Atlantic flight in 1991, he used matches in his failed attempt to set his “shoe bomb” alight.
Keep in mind that you are still allowed to carry matches (up to four books) with you on the plane. But, only the standard “strike the matchhead on the attached rough strip” kind, not the “strike anywhere” kind.
Of course, just like every other normal-thinking person, I’m all for better security on board airplanes and in the passenger area of airports. We should be restricting items that do pose a real threat, like the obvious guns, knives, weapons, etc. If the lighters are likely to be used by terrorists for harm, then they should also be banned from the cabin. However, matches should also be banned, for the same reason. And not just the strike anywhere kind, but ALL matches (I mean, what is that all about, distinguishing between the two kinds? They can both light a fuse, right?)
And don’t try to tell me that the only reason Richard Reid wasn’t able to light his shoes was that he fumbled with getting the matches to burn, and had he been in possession of an easy-to-use lighter, he may have succeeded. That argument is a bunch of crap. If that is the justification, then what we’re saying is that we’re gambling passengers lives on terrorists’ unsteady shaky hands.
It makes it seem as if the ban on lighters (fully three and a half years after Richard Reid’s infamous terrorist-wannabe episode) is nothing but an attempt to keep up the appearance of keeping the nations skies and airports safe.
We shouldn’t do things just because they make us feel all warm and comfy and good about ourselves, we should do things that are actually going to be effective, and that don’t have stupid loopholes in them.
Your thoughts?
5 comments April 14th, 2005