So what do people in The Netherlands think of the issue of air safety, after Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport was used as an entry point into the United States for what seems to have been al-Qaeda’s latest suicide-madman?
In typical, practical Dutch fashion, the NRC Handlesblad, in an editorial written yesterday, picks apart recent criticism and concludes that those who seek “total safety” may not long be living in a democratic world:
A year and a half ago, he obtained a visa at the American consulate in London. But in November, after a worrisome tip from his own father, he was put on the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, a list that includes 550,000 names.
But that didn’t mean his access to Schiphol Airport or a U.S.-bound aircraft should have been denied. The student from a well-to-do family, who by his own admission is an operator for al-Qaeda in Yemen, wasn’t on the “no-fly list” of 4,000 potential terrorists. Nor was he among those on the list of 14,000 people subject to extra screening [aka/the “Selectee” list].
“100 percent safety is an impossibility. Terrorists, particularly if they’re willing to give up their own lives, will always have an edge over the security services. Risks can only be reduced – not eliminated. Total security in an open, democratic society is an illusion.
EDITORIAL
December 28, 2009
The Netherlands – NRC Handelsblad – Original Article (Dutch)
Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, the son of a former Nigerian minister and banker who tried to blow up a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day, was already a suspect before he boarded his flight in Lagos. A year and a half ago, he obtained a visa at the American consulate in London. But in November, after a worrisome tip from his own father, he was put on the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, a list that includes 550,000 names.
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