Goodbye Mr. Bond continued
More pictures of China's recent anti-terror exercises pre-Olympics can be found at this link.
Seems that Segways did indeed feature prominently in the exercises called Great Wall 5.
One photo that caught my eye follows here:
This photo, released by the official Xinhau news agency, show an anti-terror police officer using a flame thrower.
Holy Smokes. Is that the most targeted way to interdict terrorists? It seems positively pre-Industrial compared to the cool and stylish Segway masters.
Posted by Warren Adelman at 7/9/2008 9:51 PM 
Categories: Military Innovation
Tags: Olympics security China
Categories: Military Innovation
Tags: Olympics security China
To me, it seems like they've lapsed into "security theater" where the show is just to make the attendees feel secure without actually enhancing the security.
I mean, terrorists if they struck would most likely detonate a bomb in a crowded area. Are dozens of Segway-riding, machine-gun-wielding soldiers or Mr. Flamethrower here going to prevent that or mop up afterwards? Clearly not, but the people who see those photos will think that the Chinese government is well-prepared.
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Reminded me of Team America World Police.
Thanks for the post.
Warren
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Nothing like a burst of flames to get the attention of anyone nearby. Flame throwers are particularly effective for diffusing enemy soldiers who may be hiding in caves. This in mind they (the flamethrowers) might be good if they have to tackle terrorists fighting from inside stadium stairwells or hot dog stands. Of course, it's a rather blunt "non-surgical" solution that makes one want to be on the opposite side of whichever stadium there things are deployed -- or better yet, watching the games on their tv.
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Between the pollution, crowds, traffic, new algae blooms and flamethrowers your comment on watching on TV sounds good to me.
Thanks for the post.
Warren
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An option for cars in South Africa is to have flames thrown out of the side of the car at a touch of a button to discourage car-jackers.
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That security precaution fell out of favor pretty quikcly from what I understand (Back in 2001ish). But thanks for the post.
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