[ACPlayer]

The general problem to using mathematics to solve societal problems usually comes down to the assumptions you use. The argument then becomes the assumptions to choose. That is really the advantage of formulating questions mathematically or rigorously (properly done it forces you to look at the assumptions). But once the assumptions are documented, we have to critically analyze not the solution to the problem posed (which to me is irrelevant) but the assumptions that were made in posing the problem.

Properly done this thread should be about the objectives of the police action in foiling suspected bomb wielding suspects, and in particular whether the minimize function on the lives lost is appropriate.