I
am on vacation today and this weekend, and won't be able to read about
the London Transport bombings in depth until Monday. For now I would
just like to express my sympathy and condolences to those directly
affected, and the good people of London, England, Europe, and the
world. Targeting innocents might be an effective tactic, but that
doesn't make it any less craven and despicable.
I would also like to urge everyone not to get wrapped up in the
particulars of the terrorist tactics. We need to resist the urge to
react against the particulars of this particular terrorist plot, and to
keep focused on the terrorists' goals. Spending billions to defend our
trains and busses at the expense of other counterterrorist measures
makes no sense. Terrorists are out to cause terror, and they don't care
if they bomb trains, busses, shopping malls, theaters, stadiums,
schools, markets, restaurants, discos, or any other collection of 100
people in a small space. There are simply too many targets to defend,
and we need to think smarter than protecting the particular targets the
terrorists attacked last week.
Smart counterterrorism focuses on the terrorists and their funding
— stopping plots regardless of their targets — and emergency response
that limits their damage.
I'll have more to say later. But again, my sympathy goes out to
those killed and injured, their family and friends, and everyone else
in the world indirectly affected by these acts as they are endlessly
repeated in the media [Schneier on Security]