Comments on: Le Carré: A Most Wanted Man http://annehodgson.de/2009/12/30/le-carre-a-most-wanted-man/ Learning English Online with Anne Hodgson Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:01:24 +0100 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Anne http://annehodgson.de/2009/12/30/le-carre-a-most-wanted-man/comment-page-1/#comment-3223 Anne Thu, 31 Dec 2009 04:18:09 +0000 http://annehodgson.de/?p=11387#comment-3223 I, too, have been checked thoroughly, but this time the airport staff and the authorities weren't thorough enough. I can't believe this Nigerian guy was a listed suspect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Airlines_Flight_253). Were they being overly PC when they "overlooked" him, or are they simply deluged with information? I really suspect it's the latter. We might think the National Counterterrorism Center is doing a frighteningly thorough job (see "Enemy of the People") , but it's just not catching them all (think Dr Nidal Hassan/ Fort Hood). The NCTC, the US central eavesdropping agency tracking e-mail and cellphone traffic, collects 4 times the volume of information stored in the entire Library of Congress each and every day. (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/us/31intel.html?_r=1&hp) One of the things I really liked about le Carré's book is that he shows how very difficult it is to assess suspects, and that you need a very sophisticated, enlightened approach to intelligence to keep from doing the wrong thing. I, too, have been checked thoroughly, but this time the airport staff and the authorities weren’t thorough enough.

I can’t believe this Nigerian guy was a listed suspect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Airlines_Flight_253). Were they being overly PC when they “overlooked” him, or are they simply deluged with information? I really suspect it’s the latter. We might think the National Counterterrorism Center is doing a frighteningly thorough job (see “Enemy of the People”) , but it’s just not catching them all (think Dr Nidal Hassan/ Fort Hood). The NCTC, the US central eavesdropping agency tracking e-mail and cellphone traffic, collects 4 times the volume of information stored in the entire Library of Congress each and every day. (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/us/31intel.html?_r=1&hp)

One of the things I really liked about le Carré’s book is that he shows how very difficult it is to assess suspects, and that you need a very sophisticated, enlightened approach to intelligence to keep from doing the wrong thing.

]]> By: chris http://annehodgson.de/2009/12/30/le-carre-a-most-wanted-man/comment-page-1/#comment-3220 chris Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:51:38 +0000 http://annehodgson.de/?p=11387#comment-3220 I don't think we need naked scanners. Everytime i have flown to the USA i have been hand searched VERY thoroughly, and there was no way i could have had anything in my underwear other than me without the searcher knowing. So either someone wasn't doing their job or there is something else going on that we are not being told. I think. I don’t think we need naked scanners.
Everytime i have flown to the USA i have been hand searched VERY thoroughly, and there was no way i could have had anything in my underwear other than me without the searcher knowing.
So either someone wasn’t doing their job or there is something else going on that we are not being told.
I think.

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