Murdered Sleep

photo: Laurent Errera from L'Union

There is too much intention in the flight path of the missing Malaysian Airlines jet for there to be any doubt of terrorism. First it makes a jagged turn off its normal course over the South China Sea toward the Strait of Malacca and then according to the analysis of radar makes a dramatic descent. Considering these facts, it’s surprising there’s a question that someone or thing was directing the plane off its normal trajectory. In most cases those responsible for terrorism whether it’s Al-Qaeda or some other group, quickly claim responsibility. It’s part of the political objective associated with the act. But perhaps the case of  MH 370 represents a new kind of terrorism geared at creating a higher level of fear. No one has obviously even hinted at responsibility. So can we be begin to think that the idea is to unleash anonymous terror? The plane has completely disappeared and what greater fear can there be than that of the abyss? Perhaps the new terrorism resides in producing the fear that there will be successions of events that can’t be explained or resolved. You won’t know when or where the next act of sabotage is coming from and there certainly will be no way of understanding it. The rational universe, a world where things make sense, is an antidote to chaos. It’s the reason readers find solace in detective novels and police procedurals. We know that the criminals will be apprehended. We know there are going to be scourges which will kill innocent people. We can predict suicide bombings in certain trouble spots. We can predict certain fault lines in the earth’s crust and the affect of climate change on sea levels. At least we know the etiology. We’ve made our bed and now must sleep in it. This new brand of anonymous terror is guaranteed to murder sleep.

The Baggage We All Carry

Let’s talk about why Faisal Shahzad got on Air Emirates when he was supposed to be on the no-fly list. Actually, there isn’t much to talk about. Most seasoned fliers can probably provide the answers to the questions that international security services, from the CIA to the Mossad, will be asking in the days ahead, though the answers are likely to be more anecdotal than statistical. Ask how many parents of toddlers who have ordered the chicken nuggets happy meal on the flight to Frankfurt have received instead a series of kosher or vegetarian selections, including the none too happy-making hummus and baba ganoush platter. Or, let’s discuss communications regarding another star-crossed flight, the Northwest Airlines plane carrying passengers to Detroit on Christmas Day. And what about the earlier blunder allowing Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to get on a KLM flight in Lagos in the first place? By the way, Faisal’s and Umar’s fathers could join the same support group in that they are both prominent citizens, one a banker and one a former high ranking Air Force officer, in their respective countries. They would inevitably have something to offer in a discussion about how lives of privilege lead to Taliban membership. Come to think of it, it would make a great Oprah. But we are digressing. Any investigation that deals with why people who shouldn’t are getting on planes must go back to asking the question of why certain pieces of luggage are not getting on planes when they should.  Why have so many of us found that our luggage has inadvertently made it onto an unintentional no-fly list? Let’s talk about checking a bag from Kennedy to Nice with a stopover in Paris. Let’s talk about the valiant Alitalia baggage personnel in Florence who located said bag as it was refused entrance to yet another country. “The fault, dear Brutus, lies not in the stars,” but in the baggage we carry. Discover all the lost bags that never made it on planes and you’ll find the explanation for all the terrorists who did. And what about the baggage we all carry around even when we’re not flying?