Thursday, August 10, 2006

Is it in you?

British authorities reported today that a new terrorist plot has been uncovered, and 21 arrests made. The plot was to blow up about 10 UK-US airliners using liquid explosives smuggled onboard in bottles of the British version of Gatorade.

I hate to be cynical (oh, really?), but something doesn't sit right with me about this. Wasn't there a similar plot in 1994 called "Operation Bojinka", planned by WTC bomber Ramzi Yousef? And if this plot was just uncovered, how did airport authorities get the "No Liquids" signs made so quickly? I'm not buying it.

But then, if on Sept.10 2001 I'd been told that 19 guys with boxcutters would try to highjack airliners and fly them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and the White House, I would have called bullshit on that, too. So who knows. That's the problem with all these constantly fluctuating orange/yellow/red alerts, and the manipulation of said alerts for political gain. "Terrorism-fatigue" sets in and after awhile, you don't believe anything anymore.