Only 19 U.S. airports have received sophisticated imaging machines that can detect explosives hidden in clothing.Take a look at the images shown at the link and tell me if you'd be comfortable having some stranger ogle you like that?
Security experts say the scanners may be the best defense in stopping attacks such as an attempt to bomb a Detroit-bound aircraft Christmas Day.
The Transportation Security Administration wants to install more of the devices, known as whole-body imaging scanners, but the agency has met resistance from civil liberties groups, passengers and some members of Congress.
Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, the nation's third busiest, has just two of the machines.
The scanners are able to detect weapons and explosives in places security screeners are not allowed to touch in physical pat-down searches, such as the groin area and even body cavities where items could be concealed....
Dallas-based aviation security consultant Clive Miskin said whole-body scanners may be the best technology to prevent the terrorists from personally carrying explosives onto planes.
"That's one piece of technology that can help and it will help apprehend bad people with bad intentions," said Miskin, managing director of International Security Defense Systems LLC.
Miskin's partner, Chaim Koppel, said recent events may push governments to install the machines at more airports.
"Slowly, we're going to see more them in the States, in Europe, in South America," he said.
The American Civil Liberties Union has opposed the imaging machines, arguing that the body images they produce are too revealing. And some members of Congress have supported legislation that would limit their use, allowing passengers to opt out and submit to a pat-down search instead.
In an effort to increase privacy, the TSA screeners who read the images are placed in a separate room so they are not able to see the passenger who is being shown on the imaging screen.
The problem with all of this stuff is they're almost sure to use it on the wrong people because they're so petrified at being accused of profiling some one. Of course, the terrorists who have been hijacking or blowing things up tend to be young, male, and of middle Eastern or African origin. The terrorist in the Detroit incident bought his ticket with cash and was traveling halfway around the world without any luggage. Just about every red flag in the book, and yet he was allowed on a flight in Amsterdam without even his passport.
If they want to subject airline passengers to these kinds of personal intrusions of the type represented by these scanners they better promise to put anybody who fits the profile through those things and leave the little old ladies alone.
You almost have to wonder if the ultimate goal in all this is a nationalized airline industry, because the restrictions on air travel will make it very difficult for airlines to be competitive and stay in business.
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6 comments:
"You almost have to wonder if the ultimate goal in all this is a nationalized airline industry"
Bingo, Rick. You hit the nail on the head.
Strange in all this talk of "scanning" people, no one has mentioned what we're going to be scanned with. I think these scanners use ionizing radiation. Doesn't that kind of worry anyone?
Our society is so worried about second-hand smoke that they've outlawed smoking on the beach, where the dilutional effects of a stiff sea-breeze would make any risk immeasurable. But no one seems to care about the amount of radiation a person will be exposed to if these scanners become more popular.
Pity the frequent-flier.
Radio frequency scanning is not linked to any health problems, other than if unusual objects are detected, incarceration may follow.
The techniques described in the articles listed through Google do not appear to be problematic. I am certain that some groups will file lawsuits, however, that would stop if they suddenly became responsible for stopping terrorist attacks rather than stopping the scanning.
Looks like it may be time to invest in Amtrack...
Looks like it may be time to invest in Amtrack...
Remember that in 2001 , 2002 and now 2009, it was American civilians who stopped a terrorist attack.
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