How (not) to catch terrorists

Following the pattern of classic police procedures, you would expect FBI, CIA, and Homeland Security to set up a sting to capture the "sleeper cells," if they do exist. Instead, in a surreal montage, first Tom Ridge, then New York Mayor Bloomberg went on air for a full-dress press conference explaining which targets Al Qaeda was planning to attack. Monday morning I woke up to a city in full Orange Alert mode, with helicopters circling my Brooklyn neighbourhood, and dire warnings on television. Once again, Ryder trucks were being searched on Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. The frenzy was capped by the New York One (TV station) reporter telling breathless audiences that there were numerous TV camera crews on Wall Street -- perhaps as many as there were police officers! As I turned off my television, I wondered what terrorist in his right mind would now seek to ram a truck into Wall Street, after watching all law enforcement plans detailed on the TV screen. Or do we think terrorists are holed up in a cave somewhere and don't watch CNN?

Walking to the subway, I noticed many people reading the free Metro newspaper with more than usual interest. Picking it up, I saw a list of potential targets, including Citigroup and Prudential (a three year old list, by the way!). A few minutes after I reached my morning meeting, my cell phone rang. It was a call from a BBC Radio show in London where I was a frequent guest. They were doing a show on the Terror Alert in New York and wanted me to comment on the "feeling on the streets."

"Tell me," asked the show's host, "How are people coping?" Coping? Most people seemed to be going about their business, blase about all the warnings. A case of the boy who cried wolf -- people are getting numb to terror alerts.

The issue continued to bother me all day. Why is Homeland Security broadcasting all their plans, instead of working covertly and quietly to capture terrorists? There are two possible and overlapping explanations. First, there is cover-my-behind syndrome. Since the massive intelligence failure that led to 9/11, all agencies have been scrambling to escape blame. Repeated terror alerts accomplish this -- should anything actually happen, we'll hear the chorus of "We Told You So." But telling us so is not the same as preventing attacks!

Second, there is a belief that ordinary citizens will be able to "spot" terrorists and alert the authorities. But other than scrutinising any brown person on the trains, what else is an ordinary citizen really equipped to do? Remember the alert to look out for "Pakistanis with bruises"? What were Americans supposed to do with this random piece of information? The recent hoopla by Annie Jacobsen on the Northwest flight with Syrian musicians illustrates the average person's inability to differentiate between legitimate concern and racial profiling.

On the same day as the Orange Terror Alert, President Bush endorsed the idea of a single Intelligence Czar. This left me even more puzzled. Isn't that Tom Ridge's job, and if not, what is the difference? In spite of increasing surveillance and detention power, the sum results of the last three years seem close to nil. 5,000 Muslim men were detained after 9/11, but as per media reports no terrorists were identified in these sweeps. The Special Registration Program to register Muslim men ran for a year and then shut down amidst protests. The CAPPS program for risk-coding airline passengers was similarly shuttered after privacy advocates cried foul. Meanwhile, really common-sense steps (like eliminating trash cans from airports, as has happened in some European airports) are neglected in favor of adrenaline-pumping exercises that alarm people but bring few results.

We are still in the era of "failure of imagination." Much anti-terror activity is focused on following past tactics, while terrorists will surely come up with new methods. Does anyone really believe that shoe-bombs will be tried again? Fighting terrorism requires law enforcement doing their job without fanfare. It does not require constant terror alerts, or new powers to arrest people without due process.

Naeem Mohaiemen is New York correspondent for The Daily Star.