Airport Security – 2010-01-11

What can we learn from the recent attempted bombing of a US airliner? First that our security systems are always reactionary and rarely innovative. Secondly that terrorists will always seek to circumvent our security measures no matter how stringent they are, and sometimes will succeed. Thirdly and most importantly, one cannot win a war constrained by the enemy’s willingness to commit suicide on one hand and political correctness on the other.

One example of this is profiling. I was in a US airport shortly after 9-11 and I saw security measures being applied to every 5th person boarding the plane I was getting on. Even if that 5th person was a little old lady and the 4th person in line was much more likely to be a danger to those on board the plane. This made no sense to me then, and this and similar action makes no sense to me now.

Now take the cased of full body scanners. They appear not to have been implemented in airports because of a fear of invading one’s personal privacy because supposedly they reveal fully what is under one’s clothing.

If my safety and those of hundreds of others is involved I am willing to have my body scanned and viewed and if you are not, you can choose not to fly.

We go to doctors and hospitals and bare our privates for health reasons. Should we not be willing to be scanned by a machine, and yes observed by airport personnel, for our own safety and those of our fellow passengers?

Which would you rather have. A fast full-body scan, or a 2 hour wait to get through airport security lineups, no carry-on baggage and who knows what other ridiculous measures. Come on people. Let’s grow up. As long as fanatics are willing to blow themselves up to get to us, we should be willing to do just about everything we can to get to them first,….. political correctness be damned.