Why can't technology help?

investmenttool.com technology journal

The question of what technology can do to prevent terrorism is an open question that could cover many columns. I believe there are two ways technology could help prevent terrorism, right now.

The first way would be for the FBI to mine the web. Not just with agents, but with machines at their side. It was a ridiculous artifact of the Vietnam era that prevented FBI agents from cruising the web or visiting chat rooms to gather information. You'd be surprised how terrorists get recruited, and you'll find that speaking in code in chat rooms is one of the ways the September 11 attacks were planned.

Just like a search engine, the FBI should put powerful super computers on the web, going through every page that's posted. Once again, you would be surprised how much information could be gleaned that way. You'd need a crack programming staff to keep up with new methods of encoding information on the web, but with work, trends could be identified and followed up on.

What about privacy concerns? What privacy concerns. That's my bottom line. The Internet is a public network. The FBI has a right to be there. The FBI has an obligation to be there if it can save lives. If you post a document on the web, you are surrendering some portion of your privacy. This was the case prior to the recent rules changes. I have no problem with the FBI setting up a radical Islamic site and seeing who they can get information on. None at all. Got any problems with this ACLU? Please replay the video of the towers falling. Give your privacy concerns over to the surviving family members of the 3,000 victims.

The second way we can stop terrorism now with technology is with identification and scanning. Identification is simple, to enter certain public spaces, citizens and aliens will have to carry a smart card. No card, no plane trip. The airplane is private property and there are no Constitutional concerns.

The cards identify who you are and how long you are authorized to stay in the case of aliens.

What about those suicide bombers in Israel? Same basic solution. Set up a perimeter on the PA areas and scan them with motion detectors. Anybody that crosses risks getting stopped. With fast attack helicopters, and infrared technology there would be a sharp reduction of innocent deaths.

The smart card would work in Israel if all public transportation and spaces required its use. Most bus bombers take public transportation to their final destination. Automobile's would have to be authorized to use roads. The minute a vehicle is stolen the police de-authorize it to pass through certain checkpoints. No smart chip in the car, no highway trip.

Nothing will stop all terrorism, but technology could do a lot more than its done in the past. One final question comes to mind, which is why can't India stop any of the terrorists in Kashmir. Israel manages to get 90%.

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Shmuel Protter
investmenttool.com

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