Seven Days of the Condor

Since Christmas we have heard the story of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who was able to outsmart air security in Nigeria and the Netherlands, board a Detroit bound flight with explosives and almost succeeded in bringing down the plane.

Now there are investigations, talk of full body scanners, police with machine-guns and dogs roaming the airports. Apparently once again the international security forces were out smarted.

Which got me to thinking. Many years ago I read a book titled "Seven Days of the Condor", (the film version with Robert Redford and Faye Dunaway was "Three Days of the Condor"). Its about intrigue and a falling out within the CIA. I won't go into detail, read the book or see the movie. The interesting thing is that protagonist works for the CIA as a reader. He and a small staff read books to see if any CIA operations have been compromised, as well as to gain information that could be useful for future operations.

I think Homeland Security needs to create this kind of department. They can read literature looking for anyway a threat could be brought against the USA, as well as use their imaginations to create scenarios of possible threats.

Thus far all of our actions have been after the fact. I think its time we go on the offensive and anticipate the next and beat the terrorists at their game.

Its Common Sense!