Counter Terror Gazette

Volcanoes & Flotillas: from Eyjafjallajökull to Gaza

14 Jun 2010

As we pat down bodies, X-ray bags, verify identification, effect random vehicle searches and swab a variety of hand-held items that might just have come into contact with explosives, we believe that we are doing all that we can to prevent the next terrorist atrocity taking place.  Laudable efforts, implemented by underpaid individuals in one of the most bureaucratic of labour environments.

Most of us willingly accept these checks as a necessary evil, going through the motions of divesting our shoes and belts at checkpoints, disposing our liquid purchases into huge bins, standing patiently in line after line and handing over our papers umpteen times for any single journey. And so we should.

Predicting the modus operandi of the next terrorist attack is no easy task and a lack of evidence makes airlines and airports reluctant to embrace fresh procedures and technologies designed to be proactive. As such, there is little to prevent a chemical, biological or radiological attack.

There have been a number of events recently that have demonstrated the impact of being ill prepared. The eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland, which paralysed the European aviation industry for a week in April, not only showed us the force of Mother Nature, but also the need to plan for the unpredictable. There has been significant reporting of the fact that Eyjafjallajökull is actually the small volcano and that its far more powerful sister, Katla, has a habit of erupting within a year of Eyjafjallajökull. It could well be that the skies of Europe will have to close yet again and, perhaps, for even longer next time around. (More online).