Sunday, September 07, 2003
????? ? ?????.War in Iraq: "Post-Sept. 11 Paranoia in US Academia
When travelers at US airports bitch at having to take off their shoes at gate security the staff quip: �Be glad Richard Reid didn�t hide the bomb in his underpants.� Since Sept. 11, airport security has been overhauled by the federally appointed Transport Security Administration.
There are innumerable pre-boarding delays. And do passengers feel safer as they file through the long lines at LAX or JFK? They certainly feel more nervous. America is currently in the business of exporting �freedom� globally � even to countries which seem indifferent to the idea. Yet the US itself is becoming, month by month, a palpably less free society. Much of the change is attributable to the Patriot Act, whose Mel Gibsonish acronym stands for �Provision of Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism�. In short: �Hassle�. Nowhere is the hassle more oppressive than in higher education. If airline passengers are grateful Reid didn�t hide the explosives in his boxers, university officials curse the fact that those murderous Sept. 11 terrorists were, many of them, in the US on student visas. "
When travelers at US airports bitch at having to take off their shoes at gate security the staff quip: �Be glad Richard Reid didn�t hide the bomb in his underpants.� Since Sept. 11, airport security has been overhauled by the federally appointed Transport Security Administration.
There are innumerable pre-boarding delays. And do passengers feel safer as they file through the long lines at LAX or JFK? They certainly feel more nervous. America is currently in the business of exporting �freedom� globally � even to countries which seem indifferent to the idea. Yet the US itself is becoming, month by month, a palpably less free society. Much of the change is attributable to the Patriot Act, whose Mel Gibsonish acronym stands for �Provision of Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism�. In short: �Hassle�. Nowhere is the hassle more oppressive than in higher education. If airline passengers are grateful Reid didn�t hide the explosives in his boxers, university officials curse the fact that those murderous Sept. 11 terrorists were, many of them, in the US on student visas. "
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