Too obvious? Things are rarely obvious in Russia, or obvious TO the Russians. In response to recent terrorist attacks, Moscow in installing bomb-proof public toilets. The idea is to prevent terrorists from leaving bombs in bathrooms and fleeing. This is not what happened in either the Metro bombing or the Airport bombing, so I am not sure where the toilet concern is coming from. Most terrorist attacks seem to involve a suicide, and they are not typically hiding in the bathroom. I am wondering if Moscow is trying to foil a terrorist attack by Wil E. Coyote?
The sad part is, compared to what the TSA does in the US I actually find this quite proactive. US foils a shoe bomber, TSA starts x-raying our shoes. Guys, they already tried that one, and it didn't work. They're probably on to the next plot, let's try to keep up.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, I'm not sure that my first thought after a couple suicide bombings would have been "the toilets!"
Agree with Emily on the proactive thing. At least they're thinking creatively.
ReplyDeleteIn England there are no trash cans in major public transport areas like metro stations and what not. In France, the trash cans are transparent -- to me that's WAY more logical than taking out all the trash cans. Or building bomb proof toilets.
I see both of your points, however, this is what gets me: the past 2 suicide bombings in Russia were both commited by women. Now as a woman, you would thinks ecurity might be a little tighter on me in Russia. No. I flew out of the bombed airport, DME, 1 month after the bombing. Upon entry to the airport, they had the crowd bottle neck through a metal detector. I set it off with my watch, but they looked me up and down and then flagged me through. I noticed countless women going through security without taking off their shoes. After I landed, I realized I had an entire bottle of mace in my purse! They underestimate women even though that has burned them twice before.
ReplyDelete