The Terror Factor

"Now we are in a worldwide terror alert for American travelers. Great. A great inconvenience for us and a victory of sorts for the bad guys..."

Having just returned from an overseas adventure, I must tell you - the security screening we needed to go through is becoming more and more like an anal exam. And every time I have to stand in a TSA line with no end, finally get up to the screeners wearing no shoes or belt, get scanned and then groped by some GS 6 screener, I want to choke a terrorist like a chicken. We have to do all of this, go through this stork dance every time we fly, just because Islamic Terrorists have declared war on America.

But I am going to go one step further. I am first going to address the fact that every time we set foot on a plane there is a risk some demented soul had figured out a way to get an explosive past security and on the plane. I am also going to address the intended and unintended consequences of terror.

When we were in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, we heard from our tour guides just how important the tourism business to both of those countries. It is not a little important - it is a huge part of their economies. One of our tour guides told us that after 9/11, which was an attack to cripple our financial system, also had the unintended consequence of crippling the economy of a poor Central American country. You see because of the terror factor, after the shock of 9/11 really set into America as well as her allies, many were hesitant or scared to travel. 

Knowing that the Islamic State has developed the "know how" to build and smuggle a bomb on a Russian jet was a real wake up call. How they were able to get one pound of explosive into a pop can, and then on the plane was a huge addition to their evil toolbox. How they were able to plan a mass murder event in Paris was a show stopper. How they could get into a Radisson Hotel and cause all kinds of murder and mayhem in Mali was nothing less than unsettling. And all of that in less than a month.

The terror factor. I talk to people who say they are not going to let this terror thing dissuade them from any plans. And they won't be dissuaded. However the fact remains the bad guys are always trying to come up with a better mousetrap to defeat our security systems. How to evade detection or capture by the FBI, Homeland Security or Interpol. How to communicate without detection by the NSA or the CIA. Yes, the terror factor has developed into a cat and mouse game with very deadly consequences. Deadly for the terrorists, more deadly for many innocent people.

So if you are traveling this week, travel safe. If you are flying, get reading to stand in a TSA line that seems to go on forever. This is our new reality. Brought to you live and in color by the Islamic State. The group that hates us. That hates us with a passion. That wants us all converted or dead.

The terror factor. This is what they have visited on our land. This terror factor, which has cost us so much money, and so much inconvenience, is just music to their ears. And it will stay that way until we get the will and the stomach, to really take care of business.