The Evolution of "Isolated Incidents"

As the New Year begins, I search the Internet for the best airline prices for a planned summer trip to Seattle. It is, after all, my husband's 70th birthday that we will be celebrating with our children and grandchildren. My older grandson, Charlie, has not flown before, and I long for him to have a positive experience, yet--since the attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day--I am not sure it will be.

The Administration has gone from describing this incident, as well as several other terrorist incidents before this one, as "isolated" to "war against Al-Qaeda." The other incidents in recent months that were described as "isolated incidents" include the shooting here in our city of Little Rock at a military recruiting station, killing one and wounding one; the shooting at Ft. Hood of a number of military soldiers; the killing of seven CIA agents by a triple agent; and the invasion of a presidential state dinner by three uninvited guests.

The evolution in terminology has most likely been a response to Americans' criticizing an initial lukewarm reaction to these incidents by the administration. After all, Michael Leiter, the Head of the nation's Counter Terrorism program, took his son on a skiing trip the day after the event. Janet Napolitano, Head of Homeland Security, announced on the Sunday programs that the airline "system worked." The next day the President refuted that assessment after an enraged outcry from Americans over her comment.

Yes, it is true that after such incidents Americans are then required to add ever more roadblocks into checking in at airports for their flights. After Richard Reid attempted to bring down an airplane by lighting explosives in his shoes, Americans were required to remove their shoes while checking in. The bringing on of liquids was also forbidden. We are already hearing about what is next: full body scans that leave one no personal privacy at all. Will we also have to remove our underpants and put them in a basket for scanning?