[ RadSafe ] Does anything think this may be getting a little out of hand?

[Clayton J Bradt]

Steven Dapra wrote:

>Aug. 20

>         I may (or may not) be willing to concede a small amount on this
one.

>         A little more to the point, why are people being screened when
>they are going to a Little League World Series game?  Is the post-Sept. 11

>paraonia so bad that our ostensible protectors believe terrorists (or
>perhaps run of the mill crackpots) are going to be throwing around 'lethal

>radioactive substances' at a Little League game?  Does anything think this

>may be getting a little out of hand?  And if not, what *does* constitute
>getting out of hand?


This is most definitely out of hand, but there are just too many careers
(state & federal homeland security officers) and too much money (detector
vendors) to be made by stoking the fear of radioactive terrorism.   Never
mind the fact that RDDs would be very inefficient weapons, and that they
have never been used anywhere by anyone.  Never mind that the terror
weapons of choice, day in and day out, are high explosives and good-old
bullets.  Remember: the federal building in Oklahoma City was taken out
with an ANFO bomb in a panel truck; the WTC towers were taken down with
kerosene.  The real terror weapons are easy to get and hard to detect,
while radioactive material is hard to come by (at least in quantities large
enough to be dangerous) and is easy to detect.   Radiation is sexy - fuel
oil isn't.

If you had a choice, which threat would you rather be responsible for
protecting against?  Answer: The one you would most likely be able to claim
success at having prevented (i.e. the one least likely to occur.)


Clayton J. Bradt
Assistant Bureau Director
BERP
NYS Dept. of Health
518-402-7578


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