One of the more interesting aspects of the London bombing is how the costs of the disruption in London are replicated in Boston, New York, etc. through increased security. For example: NY is now searching bags on subways.
This type of reaction is something Bruce Schneier has adroitly debunked. Of course, these effects are being noticed. For example (from Jamestown): The targeting of authors was explicitly suggested as an option in the strategy document Idarat al-Tawahhush (The Management of Barbarism). It posited the advantages of such action: "If two apostate authors are simultaneously liquidated in two different countries," the document explained, "it will require the security for thousands of writers in the Islamic world." This, the treatise explains, is part of the strategy "to variegate targeting in all parts of the Islamic world and beyond it"
Good point. In this case it is a cost with no benefit since people who decline the check can merely leave the station and move to another one.
Posted by: a z | July 22, 2005 at 10:35 AM