Dear Editor,
The remarkable swiftness with which the law-enforcement agencies have dealt with the Boston Marathon murderers is a reminder to us all across the world of not just the death of distance, but also that privacy too has died - that wherever you are, whatever you do, you are likely to be on camera. Britain's royals William and Kate now know that only too well.
Today's technology is dictating that you will never again be alone: either it is "Big Brother" peering in on you at different angles from outer space; or the strategically located mini-drones which are becoming a feature of surveillance; or grandma fiddling with the fascinating little gift that she got for Christmas; or the little tot across the street testing the capabilities of a smartphone on you. All are likely, even if only by chance, to be focusing on you. Distance is dead. Privacy is a fossil.
That is where the "Marathon brothers" made their fatal slip. They must certainly have gone onto the Internet to obtain their bomb-making instructions — for anything you want to know , the best and the worst, lies there for the taking. But in their derangement, they looked no further than the capacity to wreak death and destruction, suffering, horror and fear on innocent Marathon watchers. Had they searched the Internet more carefully, they might have been dissuaded from their foul deed, for it would have provided them a lot of information to show that, with today's capabilities, the authorities can locate even the proverbial needle in a haystack. And so in time the killers were condignly dealt with.
The authorities in Washington and Boston are to be complimented for the clinical efficiency with which they handled the Marathon drama, and as I have suggested above, through available technology, a mission seemingly impossible, ie, unmasking/detaining the unknown bombers, was accomplished in just four days. This strengthens Americans' faith in their law-enforcement agencies, and warns would-be terrorists that eyes are all around and there will be no escape.
The one downside was President Obama's avoidance of calling the tragedy an act of terror in his first statement, when immediately to me it clearly was. In his second statement, Tuesday afternoon, he came out boldly and declared that, "any time bombs are used to target civilians, it is an act of terrorism," and later in the statement he promised with confidence "I can assure we will find out who did it and bring them to justice." And that has been done. A man of his word.
Now, with both bombers accounted for, the critical question is whether they acted independently or have links to an international terrorist organisation. Fortunately, terrorists are mostly always cowards or zealots, and in this case, one who sought to viciously snuff out other people's lives was found cowering in a backyard boat seeking to safeguard his own. He will be the source of much vital information about what prompted the act and what foreign links they might have had over the years; and, in my view, whatever international human rights groups might think, the authorities should get that information, by any means necessary.
Hubert Williams
hs.williams@comcast.net
The Boston bombing... and the death of privacy
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The remarkable swiftness with which the law-enforcement agencies have dealt with the Boston Marathon murderers is a reminder to us all across the world of not just the death of distance, but also that privacy too has died - that wherever you are, whatever you do, you are likely to be on camera. Britain's royals William and Kate now know that only too well.
Today's technology is dictating that you will never again be alone: either it is "Big Brother" peering in on you at different angles from outer space; or the strategically located mini-drones which are becoming a feature of surveillance; or grandma fiddling with the fascinating little gift that she got for Christmas; or the little tot across the street testing the capabilities of a smartphone on you. All are likely, even if only by chance, to be focusing on you. Distance is dead. Privacy is a fossil.
That is where the "Marathon brothers" made their fatal slip. They must certainly have gone onto the Internet to obtain their bomb-making instructions — for anything you want to know , the best and the worst, lies there for the taking. But in their derangement, they looked no further than the capacity to wreak death and destruction, suffering, horror and fear on innocent Marathon watchers. Had they searched the Internet more carefully, they might have been dissuaded from their foul deed, for it would have provided them a lot of information to show that, with today's capabilities, the authorities can locate even the proverbial needle in a haystack. And so in time the killers were condignly dealt with.
The authorities in Washington and Boston are to be complimented for the clinical efficiency with which they handled the Marathon drama, and as I have suggested above, through available technology, a mission seemingly impossible, ie, unmasking/detaining the unknown bombers, was accomplished in just four days. This strengthens Americans' faith in their law-enforcement agencies, and warns would-be terrorists that eyes are all around and there will be no escape.
The one downside was President Obama's avoidance of calling the tragedy an act of terror in his first statement, when immediately to me it clearly was. In his second statement, Tuesday afternoon, he came out boldly and declared that, "any time bombs are used to target civilians, it is an act of terrorism," and later in the statement he promised with confidence "I can assure we will find out who did it and bring them to justice." And that has been done. A man of his word.
Now, with both bombers accounted for, the critical question is whether they acted independently or have links to an international terrorist organisation. Fortunately, terrorists are mostly always cowards or zealots, and in this case, one who sought to viciously snuff out other people's lives was found cowering in a backyard boat seeking to safeguard his own. He will be the source of much vital information about what prompted the act and what foreign links they might have had over the years; and, in my view, whatever international human rights groups might think, the authorities should get that information, by any means necessary.
Hubert Williams
hs.williams@comcast.net
The Boston bombing... and the death of privacy
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