An excerpt from yesterday's editorial in the Dutch NRC Handelsblad:

There are limits to the extent an open and democratic society can implement anti-terror measures. The Brits themselves have delivered proof of that with draft legislation that was either rejected or amended. But the call for a tougher approach and more legal powers will increase rather than decrease in the face of sustained terrorist activity. New legislation is in such cases superfluous. If it is the United Kingdom or The Netherlands, precise and successful intelligence activities do not need another layer of legislation that will ultimately obstruct the freedom of innocent citizens.

Or: to what extent are we prepared to protect the lives of those innocents when they step on a plane? Throughout the post 9/11 period I have always approved the ways in which certain security measures were expanded, but there are limits and I believe the NRC Handelsblad is onto something. Watching the extreme security measures on the various international airports today brought home the realization that our open societies are facing a level of turbulence that will now start to affect our day to day lives. And our economies too, oil prices were down yesterday in anticipation of reduced fuel consumption by airline carriers. Social and economic patterns will change considerably in years to come; there can be no doubt about it.

Sure, having to hand over your mineral water before boarding a plane is not a major disruption and our societies are so flexible and open in nature that they can easily absorb terror induced shocks and adapt. Yet the danger exists that indiscriminate security blankets will peel away a layer of freedom and flexibility that will not only take the fun out of activities such as travel, but that turn free citizens into less resilient and ultimately subservient subjects. You won’t hear me recycling the pathetic cliché that in that scenario the “terrorists have won”. Their victory will be marked by turning our magnificent cities into wastelands or by taking us on a religious express carrier back to the Middle Ages. We’re a long way from that and in the meantime we should just not tinker with the core engine of our success: freedom.