Is it any surprise that the TSA announced this week that the color-coded threat system it has had in place since post-September 11th is being replaced?
I will refrain from comment on the new system it the details have been fleshed out and give it a chance to better inform us of what real and imminent dangers we may be in store for.
However, last post I made a point about the threat system having 5 different levels, and never having ever been at the two lowest colors - blue and green. Security Expert Bruce Schneier makes this pithy insight:
"The DHS could have lowered the level to something more reasonable, but that would have been politically impossible. If there were a terrorist attack and the threat level had been blue or green, the DHS would have been blamed for not warning us. Keeping the level high might increase the general dread among some people and cause sniggering among others, but it helps protect the jobs of those charged with keeping us safe from terrorism."
Schneier also goes on to make the great point about our ability to be on alert, which in the intention of the colored system. But always having the alert color be at one of the three highest of the colors puts a tremendous burden of responsibility on average travelers. Schneier says "According to scientists, California could experience a huge earthquake sometime in the next 200 years. Even though the magnitude of the disaster will be enormous, people can't stay alert for two centuries."
He's right. We have to be on our guard for sure, and I always like to say that every and any decision we make day-to-day is a risk-based decision, but we cannot be infinitely diligent. Human beings just don't have the mental ability to be that alert at all times. We can't even text and drive at the same time.
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