Halt (hack, cough, sputter), or I’ll Shoot
The War on Terror™ continues to expand in scope. First we toppled the Taliban, then Iraq. But while the talking heads have been pointing to Syria and North Korea as the potential next targets, it turns out it’s really going to be Post Nasal Drip. O.k., yes, SARS is a real worry, and I shouldn’t joke. I am sympathetic to the dead and their families, and I’m sure those who have suffered through the disease were very frightened by their experience. But authorizing the use of force on travellers exhibiting cold symptoms, as Tom Ridge has now done, seems excessive and deserves to be mocked. Calling SARS a “national security” issue invokes a precedent I’m not sure should be made. These things have a tendency to outlive the administrations that impose them. The “front lines” in the nation’s health consist of the same high school dropouts currently making airline passengers take off their shoes, and even if the National Guard is still being used in airports for security, I don’t have much confidence in ordinary soldiers, let alone the weekenders, to make the kind of fine judgments this kind of situation really calls for. The issue is being represented as a response to groups of infected persons potentially trying to storm their way past the gates into our densely populated cities: germ warfare, in a decidedly lo-tech fashion. This is beyond ludicrous. Has diplomacy been relegated to such a disreputable condition that even the idea of treating people with courtesy and respect is lost? Diplomacy? What about just plain customer service? Remember that one? Hire someone capable of speaking a bit of Mandarin, or Cantonese, and have him or her available. Recruit and educate the flight staff on the routes serving Asia and have them talk to the ground staff. Before we whip out the nightsticks and manacles we really ought to try talking to one another.