Five myths about keeping te U.S.A. safe from terrorism

With President Obama declaring a “systemic failure” of our security system in the
wake of the attempted Christmas bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner, familiar
arguments about what can and should be done to reduce America’s vulnerabilities
are again filling the airwaves, editorial pages and blogosphere. Several of
these arguments are based on assumptions that guided the U.S. response to the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — and unfortunately, they are as unfounded now as they
were then. The biggest whopper of all? The paternalistic assertion that the
government can keep us all safe without our help.