It’s time for a little Friday afternoon catch-up. I’ve had this tab open all week, and no time to slot it in, but here we go: According to federal prosecutors, Al Qaeda was responsible for organizing the plot against the New York City subways that the FBI stopped in September. It’s not much of a surprise to hear that the subways are on the terrorist organization’s radar, but as I’ve said in the past, that the plot was stopped before it could be carried out is a testament to the nation’s increased attention to the severity of these plots. The cameras the MTA is working to fix are an important part of a security system, but law enforcement efforts that uncover plots before they can unfold are what is truly keeping us safe.
Government: Al Qaeda behind NYC subway plot
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As I understand it, the Feds were able to catch these guys by infiltrating the “chatter” on various Al Queda Internet chats, and such.
I am reasonably certain that if that wasn’t the case, security cameras could not stop the plot. There are too many ways of getting into the subway system, and too many ways that dangerous devices appearing to be normal could be smuggled in.
I mean, even in the airports, where security is orders of magnitude tighter than on the subway, not everything that should be caught, is.
Cameras are meant for forensic evidence and analysis, not to stop terrorists. Seriously, there are 300-some stations, and I’ll venture a guess to say there are, on average, 3 entrances each. How many employees do you want sitting around watching 1000 video monitors of people walking in and out of the subway? And what do you expect them to find?
But… great job to the FBI and NYPD on stopping this attempt before it started. That’s the most we could ask out of these guys.
Heaven forbid the subway gets saddled with the kind of incompetent “safety” theater that flying has been subjected to. Get ready for double-length commutes. On the other hand, there’ll probably be lots of seats available.