All week long I've been hearing about the enhanced passenger screening techniques that are now being employed at airports. In about 70 airports there are full body scanners that produce a nearly naked image of the person being scanned. The TSA is also employing full body pat downs more frequently. We are being told, from the President on down, that these enhanced screening measures are necessary to keep airline passengers safe, and these methods are the only means effective against preventing another Christmas Day Bomber.
I'm really not sure how I feel about this. I know I don't want to undergo a body scan or receive a pat down. But I also want air travel to be safe. What I'm struggling with is how much of our lifestyle do we let the terrorists affect? They have definitely made air travel less convenient, and some people are skipping it completely. So from that standpoint, the terrorists have won a small victory, and with each additional security measure that inconveniences Americans, the victory gets a little bigger.
What I really think we need is common sense here. This is going to be controversial, but I really believe TSA agents should be allowed to profile. It's not the 80 year old grandmothers we need to worry about. We handcuff our security agents with our current policies. I realize this is wholly unfair to entire groups of people, and I feel bad about that, but a reasonable person should understand.
I'm really on the fence on this one. I think we have gone too far in some areas, while I believe we haven't gone far enough in others. I guess for now, I'm going drive my car whenever I can. It's gotten to the point with me that air travel is not nearly convenient enough to put up with the hassle. Whenever I can, I prefer to drive, simply because I have control over when I leave and when I get where I want to be. I will still fly for business when I need to, and suck it up as I go through the enhanced security screenings. That seems to be the reality of where we are in 2010.
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While I do not agree with the latest TSA enhanced security techniques, having the government trying to protect everything is actually protecting nothing. Those that seek to do us or anyone harm will not be deterred. Instead, they will just patiently wait for all of the news stories and articles describing the kinds of items successfully smuggled past security. Then, some feint will occur, TSA will overreact, and the game continues. The bad guys spend $1, the government spends $1M. Even without a successful attack, the bad guys win. The Times Square bomber did not fail because of some million dollar detection equipment or spy satellite, but because of a street vendor. He would have gotten away if his vehicle had not survived the attempt. What is overlooked in all of this is that it takes the givernment way too long to react to rumors, threats, tests and attempts.
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