But ignoring intelligence can have catastrophic consequences. MH is on the record mocking military intelligence as an 'oxymoron'. I think in some cases erring on the side of caution is better than outright dismissal.
Intelligence provides information vital to success. Sun Tzu could not stress more highly the value of information. It is the difference between winning and losing.
Losing in this case results in an airliner destroyed in spectacular fashion, the usual tragic pictures of wreckage, front page stories of grieving relatives and so on.
Winning is utterly invisible. It is business as usual.
Now it may well be that intel was uncovered of plots to destroy airliners in flight by exploding a laptop or a pair of expensive headphones or whatever. Maybe they even found devices set up to do just that.
But where is the rationale for banning these specific devices on specific routes on specific carriers? That sort of intelligence is useless after a few days, especially where the rules are published. The black hats will just choose routes that are not subject to restrictions.
The fact that no American carriers are included in the ban convinces me that it has more to do with moving passengers onto American airlines than it does with security. American TSA security is all very well, but it is often
hamfisted, dogmatic, and lax. (Especially the latter, I guess.)
Emirates, for example, is one of the carriers affected by the SA ban. Emirates has never lost an airliner to terrorism. This cannot be said for the major SA carriers.
Intelligence is only one half of the picture. The big picture involves making wise use of it, and I cannot see wisdom having much involvement in this current situation.