It’s a touchy situation.
Airline passengers appalled at the thought of their most private parts being revealed to security agents by the latest high-tech scanners face an uncomfortable alternative: a “pat-down” groin check that would make even a lap dancer blush, or a swift kick out of the airport. It’s a choice between unattractive options bitter enough to make one wonder whether election season did, in fact, end a few weeks ago.
There’s no doubt that something has to be done to combat skyborne terrorism. Al-Qaida turned our own jetliners against us on Sept. 11, 2001. Last Christmas, an operative was able to board a Chicago-bound plane after stuffing explosives into his undergarments; the bomb misfired and only hurt Nigerian terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Arizona’s former governor, faced harsh criticism and calls to resign her post for claiming after the incident that the “system worked.”
And late last month, another close call: Two explosive-rigged packages were discovered to have been transported on passenger and cargo planes headed for U.S. destinations. The terrorist group al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has claimed responsibility for the foiled plot.
All of this shows that there is real danger in the air. The federal Transportation Security Administration is choosing to err on the side of caution and the public good. Director John Pistole, who was a senior FBI agent at the time the “Underwear Bomber” was caught, told Congress this week that the new aggressive pat-downs would have resulted in Abdulmutallab’s seizure before he could have boarded that plane.
But the TSA’s tough new methods became a global controversy and fodder for the late-night comedy shows this past week when a blogger’s recent encounter with TSA screeners in San Diego went viral. Resisting a full-body scan and faced with a pat-down, John Tyner told a screener: “If you touch my junk, I’m gonna have you arrested.” The incident has resulted in a nationwide outcry against the invasive checks and even a grassroots campaign urging people to refuse the searches on Nov. 24, the heavy travel day before Thanksgiving.
Napolitano says feds are listening. Senators who grilled Pistole definitely are listening. “I’m frankly bothered by the level of these pat-downs,” Sen. George LeMieux, R-Fla., told him in an Associated Press report from hearings on Capitol Hill. “I wouldn’t want my wife to be touched in the way that these folks are being touched. I wouldn’t want to be touched that way.”
“The outcry is huge,” Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said. “I know that you’re aware of it. But we’ve got to see some action.”
Pistole is adamantly defiant: Intelligence is leading the way and suggests that the current security procedures are appropriate to the threat at hand. He calls the boycott effort irresponsible and Napolitano calls it regrettable. A CBS News poll released Monday shows overwhelming support for the devices among Americans: When asked if U.S. airports should use full-body X-ray machines at security checkpoints, 81% said yes and 15% said no, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
But the people pushing for change are not doing anything illegal or wrong — they’re exercising their right to protest peacefully, and exercising the options they have as travelers. It may not be convenient for the people in line behind them, but they have the same choices, too. No matter the time of year, these things should be protected. A disturbing response to the uproar has emerged: Flying is a privilege, not a right, so shut up and sit down. But that’s not how change happens in a free society.
In this season of thanks, let’s be grateful that there is some kind of system in place to guarantee airline passengers’ safety — but let’s also work together to find constructive ways to make the airways easier and safer for all honest travelers.
Ron Wilhelm posted at 7:22 pm on Wed, Nov 24, 2010.
You know, it's unfortunate that middle easterners have turned our world into what it is. But they did.
People will always fine something to gripe & moan about. I have no problem with the TSA's safety measures if it's assuring me my plane won't explode.
For those that do have a problem, there are other forms of transportation. Train, bus or drive to Chicago. But quit moaning about my safety!
Racial profiling. So what. If it looks like a duck & quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck.
Accuracy posted at 11:10 am on Tue, Nov 23, 2010.
Dale Whiting posted: "Did you know that at Sky Harbor we have two of these scanning machines? Both are on concourse B in Terminat 4. But not to worry. Neither has been hooked up yet..."
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Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport does have one image scanner at the B gates in Terminal 4 . . . While Tucson International Airport and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport's newly expanded passenger terminal does not have electronic scanners.
The scanner (stripper) machines, called the Secure 1000, are now at 68 airports nationwide. Los Angeles International Airport has 22 and the airports in Boston and San Jose also have a large number.
Dozens of protesters will be at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport will protest the new screening procedures Wednesday, without delaying passengers.
With the uproar over invasive security techniques, airports nation-wide may see disruptions by organized boycott campaigns. There's a protest called the National TSA Opt Out Day in which people are protesting the use of these invasive body-scanning technologies which basically do a strip search of you electronically.
Dale Whiting posted at 7:46 am on Tue, Nov 23, 2010.
Accuracy,
P.S. Jihad is one of the several [depends on who counts] pillars of Islam. Like the haaj [pilgramage to Mecca], doing jihad is a part of what every Muslim [i.e. devout follower of Allah] commits to do. But the Jihad called for in the Qur'an is a personal battle within one's sole to be a devote follower of Allah, not to wage war on us Infidels.
"Judge not, that ye be not [mis]judged." But if you must judge, get your facts straight, Accuracy.
Dale Whiting posted at 7:39 am on Tue, Nov 23, 2010.
Accuracy,
I do not dispute the facts you state. But I do dispute those conclusions drawn from the limited set of facts you choose. Would you not agree that the first incidence of Terrorism between Muslim and non-Mulsim was the bombing of the King David Hotel in the late 40's? Who do you suppose did that work?
I'll wait for your answer!
In case you get stumped, the chief architect of that terrorist act was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize and then was assassinated for becoming too soft on the target. He killed somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 people, Muslim, Christian and Jew.
Yet I do agree with your main point. There are much better ways to screen passengers and detect potential threats than spending money on sophisticated equipment that does not work and than patting down little old ladies with breast prosthetics. [Scanners will not detect powered explosives sown into underware. But Mike Chertoff has sold these machines to his former Homeland Security Dept anyway. Feel cheated you Tea Partiers? You should!]
Did you know that at Sky Harbor we have two of these scanning machines? Both are on concourse B in Terminat 4. But not to worry. Neither has been hooked up yet. Apparently our local TSA people are not sold on the technology. Wonder if we can get our money back?
Accuracy posted at 10:02 am on Mon, Nov 22, 2010.
Frustration over the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) screener and the insane naked-body-scan-and-genitalia-grope security regime that our government has imposed on us in the nation's airports, could cause even more Americans to opt for the roads during the peak of this year's busiest traveling days.
Muslim and Middle Easterners are the main cause of this terrorist attack problem today. 100% of all the terrorist attacks against the United States last year were carried out by Muslim jihadists.
Israeli security agents have used profiling (extrapolating the common characteristics of the terrorist attacks) method for screening people at airports and security checkpoints for years with much smart screening success.
But in America, even with public concerns about privacy, the outrageously offensive naked-body-scan-and-grope regime continues.
Rich posted at 11:26 pm on Sun, Nov 21, 2010.
You can tell a corrupt government and a corrupt society by the fact that the government grants 'privileges'. The odds of being killed by the Xray machine is low, just about the same as the odds of being killed in a terrorist attack. In other words, courtesy of the TSA, Osama and the boys get a free one.
Dale Whiting posted at 9:00 am on Sun, Nov 21, 2010.
For eight long years now as the US has reacted and over-reacted to the events of September 11th, it has become obvious that due to our fears, largely unreasonable ones, the so called Terrorists have won. If we really are waging a war on terrorism, our coming to fear little old ladies with breast prosthetics proves it.