Opinions: The United States fear market

 by Kevin King
 published on Monday, February 18, 2008

Last week, the United States government announced that if European countries plan to have visa-free travel to the U.S. for their citizens, then they must submit to having armed air marshals on all planes from the EU that go over U.S. territory — even those which fly over but do not land in the US, such as flights to Central America. This demand came attached to a number of other security requirements, including supplying the US with personal data on all passengers and even non-passengers who cross security checkpoints (such as people pushing wheelchairs).

Furthermore, the Department of Homeland Security is  trying to impose a new travel permit system for EU passengers coming to the U.S., requiring all travelers to apply online for permission to come to America. European citizens and representatives are crying blackmail, insulted that the U.S. is coming to treat the continent as a terrorist threat. And since the plan is on a country-by-country basis, many view it as a plot to dissolve the collective European consciousness, treating nations differently based on whether they stand up to or cower before U.S. pressure.

The bodies in charge of these security procedures will not be direct agents of the U.S. government, but private companies with government contracts who stand to make huge profits managing passenger name records and providing other services. The government's announcement to European countries is aimed at expanding the private security market for Bush administration friends.

This should be grouped with President Bush's frustration at House Democrats for blocking a Senate bill to extend warrantless wiretapping. The bill also proposed immunity from civil law suits for private phone companies that were complicit in illegal domestic surveillance.

Keeping Americans safe is not the job of for-profit companies. If private companies continue to expand their markets into areas involving national security, Americans become the victims of a massive conflict of interest. The entities that the Bush administration charge with keeping us safe have to rely on the appearance of a threat to our security in order to stay afloat — otherwise, no contract. Scare tactics become indistinguishable from marketing.

The public sector doesn't have this burden. We can have government-run agencies ensuring our protection, even if they run at a loss. An agency with a goal to keep Americans safe should be determined with making itself less needed at all times. But if a private security company isn't needed, it will go out of business — the ultimate failure of such a company.

National security is not a business. Private companies manage plenty of things better than the public sector ever could, providing consumers with goods at competitive prices. But protecting America should never be seen as coinciding with a corporation's interest in protecting its bottom line.

Furthermore, when such a worldview comes to alienate an entire continent, it serves to expand anti-Americanism rather than eliminate it.

Kevin's column this week was actually written by a private contractor for a hefty pile of cash, but send feedback to: krking@asu.edu anyway.