Mediacheck

A Tyee Series

Do You Feel Safe?

World opinion on attempted London airline bomb plot.

By Angus Reid, 22 Aug 2006, TheTyee.ca

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TrendWatch

Since British police intercepted 23 suspected terrorists on August 12 in connection with an alleged plot to detonate bombs on at least 10 airplanes travelling between the U.S. and United Kingdom, there have been increased fears about terrorism and security.

"I would like to reassure the public that we are doing everything we can to keep you safe so that you can live your lives without being in constant fear," said Deputy Assistant Commissioner Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard's Anti-Terrorist Branch, during a news conference in London.

But while passengers in many countries are abiding by new airline regulations designed to increase safety -- such as the rules against taking liquids or gels on board -- and while British police have now charged 11 people and still have a further 11 in custody, the question is whether these new measures do in fact make people feel safe.

In Britain, the arrests had an immediate effect on public perceptions of terrorism. Eighty-six per cent of respondents to a recent poll now expect a new terrorist attack in the country within the next 12 months. For more information, click here.

Also, 55 per cent of respondents in Britain would consent to the practice of passenger profiling, or selecting travellers based on their background or appearance. For more information, click here.

In the United States, 52 per cent of Americans would support a major increase in the cost of airline tickets to pay for additional security at airports and on planes. For more information, click here.

Also, three-quarters of Americans think the recent security measures, such as forbidding passengers from bringing liquids and gels on board, are correct. For more information, click here.

Before the threat was uncovered, Americans were divided about the way the fight against terrorism should affect their personal lives. Forty-eight per cent of respondents thought Americans should be willing to give up some of their civil liberties so the government can keep the country safe from terrorism, while 44 per cent disagreed. For more information, click here.

Now, the threat appears to have put Americans more in tune with the way their administration is dealing with suspected terrorists. More than half of all respondents support the use of expanded camera surveillance, law enforcement monitoring of Internet discussions, closer monitoring of banking and credit card transactions, and monitoring of cell phones and e-mail to intercept communications. Still, Americans believe these measures should only be implemented through Congress, and not by the president himself. For more information, click here.

Still, for 52 per cent of Americans, one thing is clear: the war in Iraq has increased terrorism around the world. For more information, click here.

And In Britain, 79 per cent of respondents believe the war on terrorism has been futile. For more information, click here.

In Canada, the latest poll about the participation of Canadian troops in Afghanistan showed a decline in support for the mission, from 48 per cent in June, to 37 per cent this month. For more information, click here.

TrendWatch runs twice monthly, exclusively on The Tyee. The series shares the global scan of Angus Reid Consultants, Vancouver-based leaders in public opinion analysis. [Tyee]

19 Comments:

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  • anarcho

    5 years ago

    Comments on "Do You Feel Safe?"

    And the likelyhood of dying in a terrorist attack is something like 2X less than being hit by lightning. You are probably 50X more likely to be killed in an auto accident but people love those gas-guzzlers and don't see them as "terrists."

    As for the latest plot. Many think it a fabrication designed to whip people up just when Bushe's poodle is at his wits end.

  • lynn

    5 years ago

    Quote:
    Now, the threat appears to have put Americans more in tune with the way their administration is dealing with suspected terrorists. More than half of all respondents support the use of expanded camera surveillance, law enforcement monitoring of Internet discussions, closer monitoring of banking and credit card transactions, and monitoring of cell phones and e-mail to intercept communications.

    hmmmm...this is the real battle being waged against us 'neath the guise of the war on terrorism.

    I agree, anarcho... and that's part of the hidden price of this so-called war on terror....the loss of the sense of proportion... and the fueling of our fears.

    Hopefully people are starting to clue in to the difference between real security... and theatre.

  • Avicenna

    5 years ago

    A commentary in the Georgia Straight resonates with the feeling of absurdity of the fear being sewn into the fabric of our daily lives http://www.straight.com/content.cfm?id=19715. Failing that, it did inspire a grin.

  • lynn

    5 years ago

    lol, Avicenna. thanks for that... and also for the excellent link to the address by King Abdullah on another thread I was just reading.

  • jesterjogger

    5 years ago

    bu$h, harper, gordo, vic (vindictive) toews and the rest of these psychopaths scare me more than some elusive terrorists.

  • mikev

    5 years ago

    Nominations are now being accepted for the 2006 Stupid Security Awards:

    http://www.privacyinternational.org/index.shtml?cmd[342][]=c-1-Stupid+Security+Awards&als[theme]=Stupid%20Security%20Awards&conds[1][category........]=Stupid%20Security%20Awards

    I think taking soda pop and lip balm away from airline passengers should be the no-contest winner.

    Also this bit on how it would be almost impossible to do what these people have been accused of planning:

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/17/flying_toilet_terror_labs/

  • mikev

    5 years ago

    Oops, well that messed up this page a bit, sorry didn't realize how ridiculously long that URL was, how about just the press release, it has links at the bottom:

    http://www.privacyinternational.org/article.shtml?cmd[347]=x-347-541996

  • mikev

    5 years ago

    Oops again, I guess it's the square brackets? There is code in this page to shorten URLs with the ... in the middle, but it barfs on square brackets - how easy is that to fix? Feel free to delete my comments if you can figure out how to get that first link to display sensibly. Sorry!

  • Alcibiades

    5 years ago

    Ah yes, Bill Richardson, doyenne of dust balls, patron of the sad goat - great to hear from him agian...replaced sadly by an afternoon of internet on the air.

    WhatIShappening to CBC Radio?

    Thanks avicenna.

  • anarcho

    5 years ago

    JJ sez "bu$h, harper, gordo, vic (vindictive) toews and the rest of these psychopaths scare me more than some elusive terrorists."

    Exacti-friggin - cally! These are the real terrorists, er, excuse me, gotta get my booger picking lingo right - "terrists"

  • IAMC

    5 years ago

    apparently tobacco smoke within 200 feet is a dangerous threat that we feel is worth going through all kinds of hoops to criminalize. Yet we do not offer the same caution to Islamist Terrorism.
    I don't think we are under threat, but what do I know? Obviously not much.
    When you self righteous fear mongers, who try to engage society to try to fend us from Global Warming, Second Hand Tobacco effects, and all the other BS we are willing to support, are willing to put some kind of effort into protecting us from people who want to murder us, I will take you seriously.

  • Alcibiades

    5 years ago

    Have you been smoking something illegal Ron? Nothing you've just posted makes any sense at all.

  • rockyvoids

    5 years ago

    Thanks to all for the links. It's plain to see that the real plot of the "terrists" is to tie up the courts with "Keystone Kop" scenarios and thus cause death by gut-busting,uncontrollable laughter.
    And, I thought these Jihadists didn't have a sense of humor.
    These high-jinks really fuel the paranoia those who can afford fly these long distant routes and the investors of all air-travel related stocks.It looks as though it will be "fear" that will ground the planes, not bombs.

  • murdock

    5 years ago

    jesterjogger posted:

    Quote:
    bu$h, harper, gordo, vic (vindictive) toews and the rest of these psychopaths scare me more than some elusive terrorists.

    that is because they are 'informed' and 'guided' by the neo-barbarians.

    just as the classic-barbarians ran the roost in 400 ad, so now these neo-barbarian tribes (read those three letter organizations like CIA, NSA, HSA, etc) are doing their part to make sure that they, the neo-barbarian tribes, are holding the levers of power. the 'face-men' that you are complaining about can change, but the power behind the throne remains the same.

  • ubiquitous

    5 years ago

    to follow you strange logic ron, let me ask you this (not acutally expecting an answer - that would break your MO): how many people in Canada died of second hand smoke related illness last year? How many died by the hand of islamic extremists?

  • climber

    5 years ago

    I ask Americans this, if you are so sure you are going to be attacked by terrorists, why can you walk across the Mexican border? Why are only one in a hundred shipping containers searched? Its all bullshit, almost.

  • mikev

    5 years ago

    Here's another great story on how silly the whole circus about the liquid bomb threat is:
    http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,71642-0.html?tw=wn_index_4

  • mikev

    5 years ago

    hahaha! "Liquids on a Plane - when the terror alert is severe" go check this Snakes on a Plane poster spoof out:
    http://nobloodforhubris.blogspot.com/2006/08/get-snakes-off-plane.html

  • Nana

    5 years ago

    Necessary Voices Society Fifth Anniversary Fundraising Events:
    Help NVS by purchasing a signed copy of each book (cash or cheque) at the events!

    Barrie Zwicker - Towers of Deception: The Media Cover-up of 9/11

    Wednesday, August 30th, 2006; 7:30 to 9:30 pm - St. Andrew's Wesley United Church, Nelson at Burrard, Vancouver, BC. $5-20 Sliding Scale.

    Barrie Zwicker was the first journalist in the world to deeply question the official story of 9/11 on national television. A write, TV producer and host, and political and environmental activist, he was Director of the International Citizens’ Inquiry into 9/11, Phase 2, at the University of Toronto in May 2004.

    A dozen carefully-researched books have exposed the official story of 9/11 to be a terror fraud. Yet the mainstream media have monolithically failed to ask elementary questions about anomalies in this story. So-called alternative media have been little better. Towers of Deception explains why and prescribes actions to break out the truth.

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