Since the Christmas day terror attempt, airport security has been tightened and questions have been raised about why the U.S. government didn’t “connect the dots” beforehand. What was your reaction to this news story and its aftermath?
In his column “The God That Fails” , David Brooks writes that “After Sept. 11, we Americans indulged our faith in the god of technocracy” and now “we seem to expect perfection from government and then throw temper tantrums when it is not achieved.”
All this money and technology seems to have reduced the risk of future attack. But, of course, the system is bound to fail sometimes. Reality is unpredictable, and no amount of computer technology is going to change that. Bureaucracies are always blind because they convert the rich flow of personalities and events into crude notations that can be filed and collated. Human institutions are always going to miss crucial clues because the information in the universe is infinite and events do not conform to algorithmic regularity.
Resilient societies have a level-headed understanding of the risks inherent in this kind of warfare.
But, of course, this is not how the country has reacted over the past week. There have been outraged calls for Secretary Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security to resign, as if changing the leader of the bureaucracy would fix the flaws inherent in the bureaucracy. There have been demands for systemic reform — for more protocols, more layers and more review systems.
Students: Tell us what you think about the terror attempt and our national reaction to it. Do you agree with Mr. Brooks that we need to understand that “human systems fail”? What do you think the government can or should be doing? Why?
Make sure you respond in 5 to 8 thoughtful sentences with no repetition. Proofread your response out loud in your head to make sure it makes sense and addresses the questions asked. Write your response first on Think and save it.
As I read the three articles on the nigerian man who tried to blow up a plane I thought several things about the matter. I thought that us americans have started thinking that our security is impossible to breach and when it is we point our fingers at the people in charge and blame them. Well the truth is there are flaws in everything, and there will always be. But I also agree that in this case it could have been avoided. They had more then enough to delay him from boarding the plane and yet he was able to almost activate his weapon, that disturbs me. I have come to think that the protection agencies should have been able to stop this but that we all make mistakes so they do to.
I think it was weird that the bomb got past everyone in the airport even when his dad told them to keep an eye on him. I think the government should watch people at the airports. They should look for people who look suspicious. I agree that human systems fail because they didn’t check very well.
I was stunned after 9/11 you’d think that they would up the security enough to catch this idiot or at least notice that he wasn’t planing on getting off without anything well I’m sure all his “bro’s” he knows all over the country can hook him up with some pants and some hand lotion right.
I agree with Mr. Brooks when says we should know there is some error in some systems made by humans. This is because humans forget and make mistakes. So in saying that you shouldn’t get mad for anything failing that’s made by humans. The only thing we can really do is add more humans. More humans means less mistakes. So we should take action. This is the action we should take.
My reaction was very surprised. I agree that human systems do fail sometimes.It think the government is doing all that they can and it is good we ae getting stricter security systems.
I can not beileve that someone could get past the security with a BOMB! I mean seriously how could someone get by what were those guards doing sleeping on the job they should get FIRED!
I think that the terror attempt never should have had a chance. The evidence showed the man was peculiar. A man with no luggage who payed cash and came here from Nigeria. I think really the nations reaction was not babyish or about technology . The reason the nation acted this way is because the man should have ben busted as soon as they saw him. I agree that government systems fail sometimes they’re bound to it’s not perfect, nothing is.I think right now the government should be making sure airport workers know what they’re doing. The reason is because obviously they didn’t notice something wrong about the man or even pull him over to make sure nothing is going on.
I think that the terrorists and how they attempt to kill people is just straight out wrong. They only want to kill us is because they believe that we are the demons of the world, while they’re blowing up inecent people. When that guy strapped explosives to his underwear I think that he thought he was surely going to explode and die. When it only burned his pants he wanted to die at that point. My dad and I were talking about this last night, and we both agreed that life in prison was to easy on the guy. He already wanted to die so we thought that the government should help him with that… just not take 300 other americans life’s. The reason why the bomb got past the security is because it was ether a liquid bomb or c4. C4 doesn’t contain any type of mettle in the matirial. It’s almost like playdough.
I do agree with David Brooks. I do because obviously a human sistem failed in this situation in Detroit. Also because man kind can not always be perfect. It’s vertualy impossible.
Alexis west
1/6/10
eisenhower
my thoughts on the terror attempt are that I am really suprised that this happened first of all I knew that something was going to happen sooner or later but I did not expect it so close to christmas. I had no idea that this had happened until I came back to school and my first thought was what was the reason this man tried to set off a bomb did he just feel like scaring people by killing others or was he trying to get a point across to the government? I Agree that we need to understand that human systems fail 100%. Not everything we make is perfect and it was not all the airports fault that this happened it was something that did not pick up on the scanner. That is why I am very happy that airports are now checking peoples belongings and people I think that it will keep people safer and will make sure that this will not happen again.
When i heard about what happened i was very surprised. I really hate to wonder what would have happened if it was more serious and it turn into another 9/11. I think they need to be more careful at the airports and checking people. I do kinda agree with Mr. Brooks though. Sometimes things are going to happen and things are going to slip by. Computer malfunction are going to happen also going to happen too. I don’t really think there is anything the government can d to make things safer. They are already doing as much as possible. They just need to be more careful to make it safe for all americans.
I was a bit shocked that they let him in the plane. Yes, I do agree with Mr. Brooks. We can’t go into a panic every time something like this happens. We all know this will happen again. His name was on a some list. Why don’t ceap aneye on him?!
I think that people make mistakes, it makes them human, but when there is a situation that could become dangerous like checking people for weapons, I mean there was a chance that people getting killed because a man/women wasn’t careful. We shouldn’t be too hard on him/her because he/she probably won’t be able to get any sleep at night or show his/her face around the airport ever again. Just the thought of almost being the cause of letting some guy take down a plane and killing people is just heart stopping. I don’t know what the government should do about this except be more alert. We almost experienced another offense that was a success to the people we are in war in. The guy was nigerian, but he might be tied in with this war we are in. There isn’t anything more we can do but be more careful.
Anyone who could have done something should have listened to his father when he told them that he thought his son was getting involved with bombing and terrorism. I think that they should put security at a higher level so they can detect things like that. The government did increase security after it happened. Having better detections and being more thorough with their searches would decrease the chance of someone bringing a bomb on and blowing up a plane. I agree with Mr. Brooks because nothing is perfect and nothing ever will be.
The terrorists attack on Christmas is really a wake up call we need to stop sending troops in and worry about our own country. AMERICA. we need to have professionals in the airline business and down on the border how did he pass the security. I thought after 911 the security would be high. I am sorry about the attack if anybody lost someone in that attack. We need to heightened our defense in the U.S.
The attempt was planned well but the Al Qaeda,didn’t either use they right chemical mixtures or the misused the level of confidence in the person. I was shocked that he was able to board the plane with that strapped to his leg. The Amsterdam airport should of been able to catch him if they even have any airline protection. If he was on the watch list then he should of been checked over accordingly than the initial check. The nations response was really amazing to me. Yes they showed on the news, yes they talked about it but after 2 days then the stopped talking about it. That surprised me a lot it should of been disscused more. I thought that the United Nation made every international airport have a line off defense with dogs that sniff people and he was on the watch list so he must of been checked by security. This should of never happened on a plane after 9/11.
I kinda agree with “god that fails” because we kinda do loose are minds. 9/11 was totally different but now we all went crazy and no one even got hurt. I also kinda do agree with Mr. Brooks because nothing is perfect and nothing will ever be. So when stuff like this happens we should worry but not worry to be loosing are minds.
My reaction to the terror attempt was surprised. I can’t believe it that I didn’t hear it. Probably because i was driving to New York that day. I was surprised that they allowed the man to even go an boared. Wouldn’t they have sense something wasn’t right.
This is a summery of what I had just read about on http://ajviens.edublogs.org/ (viens blog) In this paragraph that i have read is about a bombing attempt on a plane. This bombing happened around christmas day. The good thing about this is that it had failed. The way that the person that was able to bring the explosive on to the plane is that it was not a bomb, it was a powder. Yes a explosive powder. The man taped the powder on his leg and so the plane people could not find it.When the man got into the plane and sat down he lighted it, but know one knew about it until the powder made a cracking sound like fire cracker. A different man that was sitting three rows ahead heard the sound and then knew it was a bomb and so did every one else. So other people on the plane attacked the man and the powder stopped the process of exploding. the plane landed and the police was there, and so was a bomb disabling robot. The man was I think sent to jail and the people went on with their lives.
This other paragraph is about a man named David Brooks that made an story about the god that fails. He is saying that “people should expect perfection from there government and then throw off a temper tantrums when the government does not do that much to help or make them more happy”. People’s mature attitudes have been vanished. People are getting worse of thing in the world and the government needs to do something about it.
lincoln
Alex
1-7-10
In reading class we are learning about the Terror Man that tries to bomb a plane. The guy that did this was really young . They say it is too early to find out a lot more about this incident. The incident happened around noon on christmas day. People say he was mixing chemicals like powder and liquid that sounded like pops. A passenger that was three rows a head of him says it sound like he was lighting off firecrackers on the plane. There were smoke and some glow all round the whole plane. Next thing you know people were jumping on him and around him.
People say he was trying to kill himself also trying to kill other people. People say he was trying to to take down the plane witch had 278 passengers on the plane .Obama got informed throughout the day while he was in his summer house with his family. For people that is new to flying will have to go through a big metal thing that will beep if you have anything that is metal. You have to take you’re shoes off when you go through. It was like the so-called Shoe Bomber. There are plenty of clues about this guy trying to blow a hole in the plane. They have a lot of bomb sniffing dogs and guard . In May Britain refused to put this guy on the watch list. He bought his plane ticket with cash.
By
Wyllow E
In a way I do kind of agree with what it says at the end of the “The God That Fails” article. We do kind of lose our heads every time something like this happens. I mean, the first time obviously was different, but now? No one even got hurt.I also kind of agree with Mr. Brooks because nothing is perfect and nothing will ever be.
My reaction to the terror attempt was surprise. I can’t believe it that I didn’t hear of it, probably because I was driving to New York that day. I was surprised that they allowed the man to even go on board.He wasn’t even carrying any luggage with him, wouldn’t they have sensed something wasn’t right.
I think that the terror attempt could have been controled instead of letting it get by the goverment. They should have made sure they searched him and was entierly sure he was safe to ride the plain. That is all i really think about this right now.
Yes I agree with mr. Brooks. Not all human systems are perfect.
The government should look more closely for threats.
I agree with Mr. brooks that human systems do fail but the airport should be able to put those full body scanners in all the airports in the U.S. if somebody doesn’t want to go though them they cant go ride a plane to where they want to go. Also this guy didn’t have any carry-ons or a return flights so that should immediately show a red flag on the system and any one that is working there. i mean this guy was reported to the cia and didnt have a visa how did this guy get through security?
I think that the airport security handled this poorly. I mean this guy went with no lugage and was acting suspicious. They should have did a full screening. If someone goes with no lugage that raises suspicion. Then he gets on the plane and trys to blow it up. The air port security should try harder to stop things like this and the should look for stuff like that.
The terrorist attack on christmas day was a big wake up call for everyone in the U.S. and some countries around the world. We handled it well but, we need to be a bit more alert about these actions. They don’t happen everyday, but it is sure that everyone is now frightened to get on planes like after the 9/11 terrorist attack. It was a good thing that we cought the guy just before the bomb activated. I agree with Mr. Brooks that human systems fail all the time all around the nation, even the world. No piece of technology is sure to be accurate all the time. but there is no need to get to frightened, because the technology we are creating is getting better every year. I think that the people of homeland security should be working hard to find a better and more efficient way to take care of terrorist attacks, and attempts. What I mean is to make a pre-made plan on what to do in a attack.
I think that the tarrier attempt is shame but at the same we really could not have done anything to prevent stuff like this for happening. I completely think that the government was not at fault there because the person that did this got on the plane over sea. If any one is to blame is the airline and the government for the other country where the terrier got on the plane. I also think it was funny that the blame was directed to the president and not the other countries government because everyone picks on the new president. Over all if this where to happen again I would not be surprised it has happened before and it is more then likely to happen again.