Full Body Screenings: Jeff Weiss

I have mixed feelings about full body scanners at airport. I actually have mixed feelings about airport security in general. Of course we need airport security but do we need to report on every facet of how we secure ourselves against terrorists? If you and I know how airport security works, don't you think the people who are planning future attacks have the same information? Don't you think they'd try to overcome those security measures?

Everyone knows that on September 11, 2001 the hijackers used box cutters to attack airline crews and take control of the planes. The TSA stopped all sharp objects from being allowed on flights. So, three months later the next terror plot involved a bomb in Richard Reid's shoe. Then the TSA ordered everyone to take off their shoes at airport security checkpoints. Eight years later, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had explosives in his underwear when he attempted to blow up a plane bound for Detroit - but he took his shoes off before he got on the plane.

I am not against full body scans because of privacy. I have mixed feelings about them because I think too much of the ways we secure our nation is reported in the media, therefore someone is already figuring out how get over on them. I believe there should be several checkpoints - from random pat downs to random full body scans, but I don't think the media should report about them. In a country where NASA can bomb the moon just so see what would happen, I think we can come up with enough random security checkpoints that if someone is planning on hijacking or bombing a plane, they will have no idea which of the many security measures they may be asked to go through. Some people argue that no matter what we do, the terrorists will still plot against against us. That may be true, but I believe we should at least make it as hard as possible for them to even think about it.

Email Jeff