Following the incident of September 11, United States felt the necessity to bring up with whole new sets of laws and regulations regarding the transportation in general and security in particular. This led United States to cover up the deficiencies within the intelligence agencies and drag them all under an umbrella called Homeland Security. Simultaneously, President Bush introduced his “War on Terror” policy which had drastic consequences for specific countries like Afghanistan followed by Iraq as we all know it.
Ever since, terrorist activities involving in several bombing or attempts to attack on airplanes and son on have taken place that each time has evoked certain overwhelming response on the US government’s side.
This time there was an incident on the 25th of December on a plane flying from Amsterdam to Detroit. A man of Nigerian descent tried to explode the plane by mixing two chemical fluids. This time, during Obama’s Tenure, again some countermeasures are being introduced by the federal government.
News from Washington is about the fact that Obama administration officials have alleged that citizens of 14 nations, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, who are flying to the United States will be subjected indefinitely to the intense screening at airports worldwide that was imposed after the Christmas Day bombing plot.
Based on what the officials have said, Americans can be at ease as they and most others who are not flying through those 14 nations on their way to the United States, will no longer automatically face the full range of intensified security that was imposed after the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight.
The change represents an easing of the immediate response to the attempted bombing of a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit that had been in place the past week. But the restrictions remain tougher than the rules that were in effect before the Dec. 25 incident. And the action on Sunday further establishes a global security system that treats people differently based on what country they are from, evoking protests from civil rights groups.
According to officials, citizens of Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria, countries that are considered “state sponsors of terrorism,” as well as those of “countries of interest” — including Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen — will face the special scrutiny.
Passengers holding passports from those nations, or taking flights that originated or passed through any of them, will be required to undergo full-body pat downs and will face extra scrutiny of their carry-on bags before they can board planes to the United States.
In some countries that have more advanced screening equipment, travelers will also be required to pass through so-called whole-body scanners that can look beneath clothing for hidden explosives or weapons, or may be checked with a device that can find tiny traces of explosives.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain announced that whole-body scanners would be introduced in that country’s airports
Many, though not all, other passengers coming to the United States will face similar measures, but that screening will be done randomly or if there is some reason to believe that a particular passenger might present a threat, officials said.
The changes should speed up boarding of international flights bound for the United States while still increasing security beyond the standard X-rays of carry-on bags and metal-detector checks of all passengers.
The changes will mean that any citizen of Pakistan or Saudi Arabia will for the first time be patted down automatically before boarding any flight to the United States. Even if that person has lived in a country like Britain for decades, he now will be subject to these extra security checks.
The implications are tough, specially for our country which has been constantly in struggle over the concept of America as an imperial power that has been and is being taken side from every week during Friday Prayers. But this time, bringing Iran among the “state sponsors of terrorism”, tensions are sure going to leap up especially with Iran trying to take America as the main element responsible for the anarchy which is currently ongoing within the streets of Iran after the 2008 Presidential elections of Iran.
This once again, will give enough fuel to both sides to keep the animosity, though there is another side to it. This time, people may get irritated to because they are simply and plainly are being suspected as terrorists just by coming from the country or by flying through it. So far, America has been able to attract a great portion of the young generation with its truly appealing features, but this course of action might provoke a lot of serious offences on Iranians side due to America’s biased perspective toward terror.
No comments:
Post a Comment