Extending the ring of steel
扩大“铁圈”

Oct 8th 2009 | NEW YORK
From The Economist print edition

New York expands its counterterrorism monitoring system
纽约市对反恐监视系统进行扩网

Here’s looking at you
你正在被监视

BARACK OBAMA visited the National Counter-terrorism Centre in Virginia on October 6th to heap thanks on the organisation for frustrating al-Qaeda’s tricks. He praised the co-ordination between federal, state and local partners, in particular pointing out that members of New York’s police department (NYPD) now play a crucial role. He pledged to keep America safe and to “give all of you the tools and support you need to get the job done, around the world and here at home”. About time too, New Yorkers reckon. The city spent $300m of its own money last year on counter-terrorism, according to Ray Kelly, New York’s police commissioner.

巴拉克•奥巴马10月6日造访了位于弗吉尼亚的国家反恐中心，对其多起挫败基地组织阴谋表示感谢。他对联邦、州以及地方政府之间的协调合作大加赞赏，并特别指出，纽约警察局警员在反恐大局中的作用至关重要。他承诺保证美国的安全，并“提供你们工作所需的一些工具及支持，无论是在国外还是国内。”早该如此了，纽约市民表示。纽约市警察局局长雷•凯利表示，该市去年在反恐一项上已投入3亿美元。

Michael Bloomberg, the mayor, and Mr Kelly announced on October 4th that a new grant of $24m from the Department of Homeland Security will be used to expand the Lower Manhattan Security Initiative so that it can take in midtown Manhattan as well. The initiative, which dates back to 2005, involves an extensive network of security cameras, licence-plate readers and weapon-detectors which work together to spot threats and deter terrorist surveillance. Several thousand cameras, many provided by private companies, will now cover transport hubs like Grand Central Station, Penn Station and Times Square.

市长迈克尔•布隆伯格及凯利先生10月4日宣布，国土安全局最新下发的2400万美元将会用于下曼哈顿安全动议，以将市中心区曼哈顿纳入其中。此项动议始于2005年，包括建立广泛的安全监控网络、安装车牌监视器以及武器探测仪，协调工作以探明威胁及制止恐怖分子监视。数千个摄像头——许多都由私营公司提供——覆盖中央车站、中央火车站以及时代广场等交通枢纽。

Bruce Schneier, a security guru, calls this “cover-your-ass security”, not unlike taking off shoes at airports. He worries that the ring of steel will not deter attackers, but merely force them to change targets. It is far better, he says, to invest in security that defends against a broad spectrum of attacks, namely “intelligence, investigation and emergency response”. These three tactics led to the arrest of Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan immigrant, who pleaded not guilty last month to conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction in New York.

但安全顾问布鲁斯•施尼尔却称之为“狗屁安全”，与在机场拖鞋检查并无差别。他担心“钢圈”无法真正制止袭击者，仅是迫使他们寻找其他目标。他认为，应该对防御多种袭击的安全措施进行投资，包括“情报、调查以及应急响应”。正是此三项措施使得阿富汗移民纳吉布拉•查齐成功落网，但他上月在密谋对纽约使用大规模杀伤性武器的指控面前拒不认罪。

“Hiring Arabic translators doesn’t get you votes,” says a cynical Mr Schneier. But to be fair to the NYPD, recruits who are native speakers of languages such as Arabic, Pushtu and Bengali are often assigned to counter-terrorism duties. Mr Kelly starts every morning with a counter-terrorism briefing. His force has assigned 1,000 of its officers to the task of fighting terrorism and sends officers from the outer boroughs to patrol potential midtown targets, such as buildings belonging to financial firms. The struggle goes on.

“雇用阿拉伯语翻译并不能为你带来选票，” 持怀疑态度的施尼尔先生说到。但平心而论，纽约市警察局的新录用人员——说阿拉伯语、普什图语、孟加拉语等语言——通常都会被分配至反恐部门。凯丽先生每个早晨都要参加一场反恐简报会。他派遣了手下1000名警员去执行反恐任务，同时从其他辖区调派人手对市中心可能的袭击目标巡逻检查，其中包括了一些金融公司建筑。战斗还在继续。