DAVID WARTOFSKY'S
NATIONAL SECURITY PARABLES

ON AIRSPACE SECURITY

Imagine you have a room that you need to make sure is secure.
Secure doesn't mean that good guys can't come and go,
...secure means that bad guys can't come and go.
The problem is telling the DIFFERENCE,

And then actually being pre-positioned to actually STOP the bad guys before they enter.

You COULD post 'DO NOT ENTER' signs over the doors,
...but since the windows on either side of the door are all wide open, signs alone would be silly.

You COULD simply shoot anyone coming in,
...but that gets a little awkward after a bit.

You could lock the doors to all the OTHER rooms,
...but given the windows are open anyway, that would be an absurd and pointless exercsie.

So what do you do?

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To ENHANCE SECURITY you can do a few of things:

You put up 'DO NOT ENTER' signs,
    but only to keep anyone who doesn't have "need to know" from casually wandering in;
Because otherwise you will have to chase them out,
    And that's embarrassing for them, and tiring for you.

AND you also visibly post armed guards by the door,
because only such force can actually keep the bad guys out

But the job is not nearly done.   Nooooo.

Good government must also protect freedom, or it fails at its primary reason for being

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To PROTECT FREEDOM, from the unavoidable consequences of security,

...You setup a system whereby anyone who needs access to the room,
...for personal, business, or governmental reasons,
    ...A three-star visiting the Pentagon, OR, soming into Alexandria to visit his Mother,
    both reasons are equally valid; the latter perhaps even more so.
 

So you provide a public point of contact to which anyone having reasons to access the area
may first apply for clearance.   (See other parable).

In other words, you 'vet' them, RATIONALLY.  (Do you see a pattern forming yet?)

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Then it really gets interesting...

The objective then becomes letting those that guard the area know who is cleared and who is not.
The objective is NOT to interfere with those who you know are not a threat.
That would be just silly.

What you do cannot be obvious.
It can't be checking someone's driver's license,
    Since anyone can pass that test, checking a driver's license is a pointless exercise.
It can't be checking to see if they have a green sticker.  (See other parable).
Because anyone can get one of those too.

If the underlying objectives are publicized, then you undermine your deeper objectives.

And when someone's flying in or out, it's really really hard to stop and show someone your photo ID anyway.

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So you move to a model of 'Special Procedures'

Those who are cleared are told,
"Make sure that before you enter that room that you scratch your RIGHT ear as you pass the guard,"
"...and that you are wearing a green hat."
"If you scratch your nose, the guards will stop you and discretely offer assistance."

You can't publish these. 
It is in the public interest of security AND freedom that you do not publish it.
You must not publish it.

And it's different for everybody, so it's nearly impossible to penetrate.

Done correctly, it is very simple.

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But suddenly, a regulatory agency, looking for work and appropriations, having some passing familiarity with headwear, gets all excited,
"It's their job!" they declare.
"Move over, we're in charge of these hats!"
They hire staff.  They rent offices. 
It's a lot of fun, FOR AWHILE...

They make more rules about hats, for those who are not a threat.
But those who are a threat don't care; the rules about hats only give them a chuckle.

They regulatory agency focuses on what they can see, even though it is irrelevant.

"What color green is permitted?"

"What style hat shall we allow?"

For the purpose of clarity they want to be CLEAR about EVERYTHING by PUBLISHING their RULES

They impose administrative sanctions on anyone wearing the wrong SHADE of green, or the wrong style.

"Arrest that man.  A feather in his hat is not approved!"

But, as you can see, the style and color of the hats have nothing to do with anything.

They simply do not have access to the whole story, so they are doing the best that they can.