More Security Checks and the Race to Whole Body Screening
New security rules have been implemented for people coming to the US from certain countries:
But American citizens, and most others who are not flying through those 14 nations on their way to the United States, will no longer automatically face the full range of intensified security that was imposed after the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight, officials said.
The change represents an easing of the immediate response to the attempted bombing of a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit that had been in place the past week. But the restrictions remain tougher than the rules that were in effect before the Dec. 25 incident. And the action on Sunday further establishes a global security system that treats people differently based on what country they are from, evoking protests from civil rights groups.
Citizens of Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria, countries that are considered “state sponsors of terrorism,” as well as those of “countries of interest” — including Afghanistan, Algeria, Lebanon, Libya, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen — will face the special scrutiny, officials said.
Passengers holding passports from those nations, or taking flights that originated or passed through any of them, will be required to undergo full-body pat downs and will face extra scrutiny of their carry-on bags before they can board planes to the United States.
In some countries that have more advanced screening equipment, travelers will also be required to pass through so-called whole-body scanners that can look beneath clothing for hidden explosives or weapons, or may be checked with a device that can find tiny traces of explosives.
The article also notes that other may be subject to secondary screening but in a more random fashion. Even though the Obama Administration says that this is not profiling, it seems to me that treating people of certain countries of origin to a set of rules different than other countries is indeed profiling. But I’m not so confident that this is profiling that ought to be abandoned. Most of these countries do indeed have known and active Al-Queda groups operating (WTF is up with Cuba though?) and it is more reasonable to watch people coming from those countries. Unlike the completely brain dead suggestion from Fox Noise to strip search all young Muslim men trying to fly. And it is good to finally see the government take seriously the fact that the Saudis have a serious Al Queda issue that hasn’t been especially well addressed. But this is all going to look short-sighted in and when Al Queda comes up with an Indonesian or Chechen to set their panties on fire next.
Then there is whole body screening. Which apparently would not have caught the crotch bomber in the first place. These scanners aren’t going to pick up powers and gels that have been cleverly tailored into clothes, I don’t think. I mean, you can still send cleverly hidden liquids and gels through the X-ray machine. And I’ve done that pretty routinely. There is that puff machine that is supposed to detect explosives on your body (I’ve only been through that in Buffalo) but I have no idea if that actually works. Personally, I think that the whole body scanners are a virtual strip search and really are not necessary. It seems smarter to me to put into place better methods to detect explosives and smarter to better secure the bloody cargo on planes that does not get the kind of screening that your bags do.
So what do you think about these new rules?
Tags: TSA
Article from the Independent re: the usefulness of these full body scanners in finding the kind of explosives the crotch bomber had:
I just want to know when we can ditch the ridiculous shoe thing. Scan me if you must, but let me leave my shoes on.
Well, I think we should all fly naked.
second
Where will I put my laptop?
I flew out of the country the day after the crotch-bombing incident (blew through security in philly with no prob). There were new international regulations instituted while i was in Ireland. On the way back both my carry-ons were opened up and searched through (kind of like the random searches people occaisionally endure, but for everyone on the plane) and I was patted down in the tunnel before I got on the plane. Be aware if you’re going abroad anytime soon that it’ll probably take longer, especially if you’re female (for some reason our line was about three times longer to get on).
Check out the ACLU website on the wrongness of these body scanners. They dont pick up rubber either or anything “skin like”. How far will this evolve? If someone is able to get past a body scanner (and someone will eventually), will the next step be to force everyone to strip down totally naked and then a probe internally. Hardball just reported that Joan Rivers couldnt get on a flight, but the crotch bomber can? I would loved to have heard Rivers go off when it happened to her! What a comedy that would have been.
I dont think we are being told the whole story about what actually did go wrong. Maddow and Olberman and their guests intimated that the Obama adminstration may be thinking that the system broke down by someone, on purpose. Could ole Cheney and his buds in Saudia Arabia have anything to do with it? We know the father of the crotch bomber (as reported in European press) was not a banker, but involved in arms control and counter terrorism. Something doesnt make sense regarding this father, the son and their relationship.
Not willing to give up anymore of my civil liberities for these nuts. Appears the “terrorists” are winning as americans are more willing to give up their civil rights, spend billions on technology that will never be 100%. Whats the answer? Its all about human intelligence and we have little of it in these mid eastern countries whose puppet dictators are so corrupt we cant even trust our so-called “partners”. The President of Yemen is equally corrupt as Karzai! So why is the US goverment delivering $666 million to that guy? How do we know what he will do with the money and whose checking the checkers.
I have had explosives in my underwear since I was a teenager.
But A1, have the explosives lost their potency as you’ve gotten older?
“Where will I put my laptop?”
Attached to your nipple clamps 🙂
Not yet. 😛
Just heard this report from the BBC about this woman who was able to get a large, pink aerosol (hairspray) can past two handscreenings onto a plane bound from Sydney to NYC.
Not that anyone should be either surprised or alarmed about this, but to point out that there are no 100% screening methods. And I’ll bet that there will be many more stories like this in the coming weeks, too.