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How to Foil an Intelligent Enemy

(Jerusalem Post) David Lapin - Israel's Ben-Gurion Airport is in one of the most targeted countries in the world for acts of terrorism. Yet it has successfully managed to avoid hijacking and bombing attempts, even though security checks are usually much quicker than at any U.S. airport of similar size. Security officers there do not mindlessly monitor people taking off shoes and belts as they walk through metal detectors. They are looking for intelligence by asking probing questions. Once, after clearing security there, an officer looked into my eyes and said, "Do you know why I am asking you these questions?...I really don't want anything to happen to you." To her, her job was not about checking boxes to make sure that if a plane went down, her own back was covered. Her job was much more meaningful than that. Her job was to care about me and tens of thousands of other travelers that day, and she was passionately committed to it. She was applying her considerable skill, training and intelligence to her job in the most caring way. Only wisdom and intelligence can foil an intelligent enemy. Machines and process alone cannot.
2010-01-07 08:54:39
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