When botched terrorist attacks happen against the United States, many people expect a sensationalist solution by the president or one of his many secretaries. After this past weekend, they may not get something sensational, but they will get the pleasure of knowing the president is actually doing something.

On Friday, news broke that al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula attempted to send bombs to synagogues in Chicago via UPS Inc. and FedEx flights. Unlike the many mistakes of former President George W. Bush, President Barack Obama acted appropriately and in a timely manner. Considering the magnitude of this event, he definitely needs to stay vigilant in controlling and creating current and future legislation toward aviation laws.

It does not come as a surprise that a synagogue was the target of a planned attack because of the many religious issues currently taking place in the Middle East. It does, however, come as a surprise that multiple cargo flights were used. People in this day and age are expecting terrorists to use passenger flights or sleeper cells to attack the United States and its many allies. Movies like ‘Traitor’ with Don Cheadle and ‘Syriana’ with George Clooney have demonstrated this seemingly understood cultural norm. Using cargo planes may be a new element.

I contacted professor Michael Barkun at Syracuse University, a specialist in the academic understanding of terrorism, to get his take on the UPS Inc. and FedEx bombs.

Barkun wrote in an e-mail, ‘Based on information available on Saturday, October 30, it appears that this was a case of attempted attacks where bomb delivery was determined by security levels. Because security has become so stringent on passenger air carriers, the perpetrators evidently moved to a less secure branch of international transport, namely air cargo. It’s a variation on the classic pattern that when some targets get hardened, terrorists move toward ‘softer’ targets, although in this case, the aircrafts themselves were not the targets but merely the means of delivery.’

If Barkun is right, which by all accounts he probably is, groups like al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula will continue to focus on ‘soft’ targets to create what could be the next biggest attack on American soil.

In Obama’s address to the nation this past Friday, he assured the U.S. public that the Department of Homeland Security and a variety of intelligence agencies and departments are doing everything they can to heighten security, but more needs to be done. Barkun’s analysis of the issue sheds light on the probability that al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula will continue to test ‘soft’ targets until it gets one right, and by then it could be too late.

Looking at past aviation solutions and the 9/11 attacks, Obama would be correct in working with Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.). Markey pushed for the laws that required the screening of cargo in passenger airplanes, which inevitably led to the increase in the security of passenger flights overall. If there is a push for aviation legislation for cargo planes, Obama needs to be one of the first to admit it, and he needs to get it in motion as soon as possible.

A potential backlash for any new cargo laws would create tension abroad with international carriers because they are not going to be willing to continue changing their laws to suit the United States. Obama would need to push for a rise in international flight security while making the global community aware that the risks are not simply connected to the Western countries.

John Sumpter is a senior political science major. His column appears every Monday, and he can be reached at jfsumpte@syr.edu.

 

Published on October 31, 2010 at 12:00 pm