[Goose]

In 2001, we shut down airports for days before restructuring the entire federal aviation security infrastructure over ~3,000 souls lost, not including the brave first responders who succumbed to early deaths due to the crash site hazards (who had their federal aid delayed ad nauseam by GOP lawmakers).

It was worth it then, and it sure would have been worth it now by any reckoning.

Don't tell me we couldn't have done it.  "We" didn't want to do it.



Zadroga Act history: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/...nders.html

I totally agree that we didn't want to do it. I also agree that we could have shut down all international travel for three days. What I don't agree with is the idea we could have restarted travel in three days and quarantined everybody arriving in the US for two weeks going forward.

The "restructuring" of the security structure was easy by comparison. We already had an anti-hijack security structure to build on. Further, almost all of the security changes took place at airports which are already government controlled. Many of the security measures we now have (like locking cockpit doors) were not present for quite a while. Most important, our new security system didn't have to work very well, especially right at the beginning. Nobody tried to repeat 9/11 immediately. Remember, the "shoe bomber" got on a plane. Then we all had to start taking off our shoes. Obtaining adequate quarantine facilities could not be done by modifying a few airport buildings a little. We would need to house hundreds of thousands PER DAY, at least during the initial returns to the USA. We would need to modify the places they were housed so the people couldn't leave, and we would need to have a guard force.

In Taiwan, they can trust their citizens to quarantine in their homes, but even they have a person who checks on the residents to ensure they are complying. In the USA, that wouldn't work. Some people would comply, some wouldn't. We would need guards. Australia had guards too, because they would have a similar problem. They have a much smaller population and many fewer points of entry. It took them quite a while to get ready, and if you read the papers you know what happened in Melbourne. So I think there is good reason to believe we couldn't have created a workable system in a few weeks, let alone a few days, even if we wanted to do so.

[Goose]

In 2001, we shut down airports for days before restructuring the entire federal aviation security infrastructure over ~3,000 souls lost, not including the brave first responders who succumbed to early deaths due to the crash site hazards (who had their federal aid delayed ad nauseam by GOP lawmakers).

It was worth it then, and it sure would have been worth it now by any reckoning.

Don't tell me we couldn't have done it.  "We" didn't want to do it.



Zadroga Act history: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/...nders.html

I totally agree that we didn't want to do it. I also agree that we could have shut down all international travel for three days. What I don't agree with is the idea we could have restarted travel in three days and quarantined everybody arriving in the US for two weeks going forward.

The "restructuring" of the security structure was easy by comparison. We already had an anti-hijack security structure to build on. Further, almost all of the security changes took place at airports which are already government controlled. Many of the security measures we now have (like locking cockpit doors) were not present for quite a while. Most important, our new security system didn't have to work very well, especially right at the beginning. Nobody tried to repeat 9/11 immediately. Remember, the "shoe bomber" got on a plane. Then we all had to start taking off our shoes. Obtaining adequate quarantine facilities could not be done by modifying a few airport buildings a little. We would need to house hundreds of thousands PER DAY, at least during the initial returns to the USA. We would need to modify the places they were housed so the people couldn't leave, and we would need to have a guard force.

In Taiwan, they can trust their citizens to quarantine in their homes, but even they have a person who checks on the residents to ensure they are complying. In the USA, that wouldn't work. Some people would comply, some wouldn't. We would need guards. Australia had guards too, because they would have a similar problem. They have a much smaller population and many fewer points of entry. It took them quite a while to get ready, and if you read the papers you know what happened in Melbourne. So I think there is good reason to believe we couldn't have created a workable system in a few weeks, let alone a few days, even if we wanted to do so.