This news story from the BBC last week tells us about a new anti-terror ad campaign being waged in England. Posters in Manchester and London urge citizens to be suspicious and report anything they think might be untoward. One such poster has a photo of some chemicals containers in a trash bin, with these words across the bottom – “These chemicals won’t be used in a bomb because a neighbour (sic) reported the dumped containers to the Anti-Terrorism Hotline.” Another shows a street scene and reads “A bomb won’t go off because weeks before, a shopper reported someone for studying the CCTV cameras. Don’t rely on others: if you suspect it, report it.” You get the idea.

This is a bit of a mixed bag. While it’s necessary for citizens to be vigilant, this seems slightly skewed toward fear-based tactics and could lead to a certain level of paranoia and hysteria…