Preventing Terror By Stripping Our Clothes and Privacy?
Millimeter wave technology, first introduced in airports in 2007, provides essentially naked image of passengers.
The world is learning more every hour about 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s alleged attempt to detonate an explosive on a Northwest Airlines plane during its descent toward Detroit this past Christmas day. One immediately questions how Abdulmutallab managed to bring an explosive onto the plane in the first place if he was screened before boarding. Well, the bomb was hidden in his pants. Thus, it never went through a bag screener and apparently contained no metal that would set off an airport metal detector.
We still live in a time that is largely reactive when it comes to terror. 9/11 hijackers entered airports and airplanes armed with weapons, so airports begin scanning people and bags for weapons. Shoe bomber Richard Reid hid explosives in his shoes in his attempt to blow up a plane, so airports began mandating that passengers remove shoes. So now that we’ve found that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab hid the explosive in his pants, are airports going to begin mandating that passengers remove their pants? Well, not exactly.
In about 20 American airports, TSA has been experimenting with $170,000 full-body scanners that use millimeter wave technology. Essentially, these scanners present sketchy but distinguishable images of passengers’ naked bodies to a TSA screener in a separate room. As of now, TSA is blurring passengers’ faces, but not genitals or breasts. Older backscatter technology revealed in 2003 actually revealed much more detail of the body and was extremely realistic, but it is not currently in use.
Backscatter technology, first revealed in 2003, is not currently in use, but is far mor revealing than millimeter wave technology.
Currently, the scanners serve as alternatives to the pat downs TSA conducts randomly or in response to passengers setting off metal detectors multiple times. But privacy advocates have been working against it since this technology was first introduced in 2007 at a Phoenix, Arizona airport. They argue that it is a clear violation of individuals’ right to privacy. Supporters of the technology argue that it fills the void that metal detectors and bag screeners cannot — it can detect non-metal objects hidden on one’s person.
I argue that the machines are extremely expensive and don’t actually root out the problem. As I said before, we are still combatting terror from behind. Yes, the technology was first introduced before Abdulmutallab’s attack, but it seeks to target terrorists far too late in their plots against this nation. Just as the 9/11 hijackers found a way around the basic airport security of their day, just a Richard Reid found a way around the post-9/11 airport security of his day, and just as Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab found a way past the post-shoe-bomber airport security of his day, future terrorists will attempt to find a way around these full-body scans.
Perhaps the way around will be initiating attacks from international airports lacking high levels of security, perhaps it will be hiding bomb materials in body cavities, perhaps it will be improvising bombs or weapons from within the airport or airplane itself, or perhaps the trend will move towards attacking soft targets such as shopping malls and buses. When our mind-set is more reactive than preventative, these are the realities we will face in the future. Our focus should be directed towards destroying terror cells and preventing terror using intelligence. The goal should be to destroy from afar rather than take the risk of having them strike us from up close first.
Abdulmutallab was not just on our list of persons with likely terrorist connections; his own father gave us additional warning a few weeks ago, and he even had a one-way plane ticket. Anyone within TSA who thinks the right lesson from this is to further inconvenience ordinary Americans, rather than bring more security to bear on known suspects, is either too stupid to be worth listening to, or actively traitorous.
Yes, you would think that using that intelligence on the back end would prevent us from even having an issue here on the front end. But rather connect dots, or even pay attention to the individual dots, we settle for blanket regulations and procedure. Our methods should be targeted and concentrated rather than broad and water-down.
“Anyone within TSA who thinks the right lesson from this is to further inconvenience ordinary Americans, rather than bring more security to bear on known suspects, is either too stupid to be worth listening to, or actively traitorous.”
Obviously
Your administration is afraid to point out that only a few people are to be scoped .They are afraid because of “discrimination positive” in french or affirmative action ; islamophobia is a far worse ennemy for them than these one who destroyed your Twin towers .
War in Afghanistan is useless with such a way of thinking .
Was Richard Lyonheart ( Melek Ric for Saladdin ) afraid of his ennemies ??
Major Hassan at Fort Hood and now this one , who was known to be islamist …
These UHF scanner are an unbearable offense for honnest passengers . Enough is enough . Catch the bad guys and send them to their paradise , Yemen or Iran .
We should really be focused on dismantling the elements of our foreign policy that breeds these terrorists. Our military presence in Saudi Arabia fueled bin Laden’s hatred. I’m sure that our assistance in foreign military operations, such as the recent Yemeni air strikes or the conflict in Gaza, will incite even more hatred towards the U.S.
Rather than be honest about the effect of these policies, our government will choose to maintain them and pretend that technology like the full-body scanners will “protect” us from those who wish to do us harm.
I wonder who benefits from the push for full-body scanners? Who makes these things?
Gordon Brown is a traitor to his country.
The terrorists have scarred the not properly elected Prime Minister (what a joke) in to forcing civilised human beings in to getting there naked bodies photo graphed and looked at in detail by anyone who is TRAINED. Have these perverts been vetted or are they on the sex offenders list. I bet all the Trained individuals are men.
A Doctor is the only other man i would willingly let look at my wife’s naked body for medical reasons not some floor cleaner who applied for a job as pervert. Looking for bombs or staring at naked woman all day. What a job to have. Not having to pay for porn but also getting paid to look at it. I spoke to a friend at an air port and he told me that the images are kept for an hour before they are deleted. Just encase something happens on the plane they can then go back and have another look at the porn. So all this “the images aren’t stored in anyway and are deleted straight away” is complete rubbish!
In order for myself and family to have a nice holiday in the sun I am expected to let my wife expose herself to a complete stranger.
I didn’t marry a slag. Porn stars have a choice to get photo graphed, our wife’s and children don’t. Until these Skandalis machines are destroyed I am stuck in this country for a holiday. To drive to a hot country with a young family is unfair on them.
The dignity of our loved ones has been thrown away just because of some mud hut dwellers go boo !!!
Do you think Winston Churchill would have aloud his loved ones to expose there genitals to strangers just so they could go on holiday.
Get some Genitals Brown. Don’t jump on the first band wagon that they say it will stop terrorists. This last attack would still of happened even if he had gone through a scanner.
I served in the Army for my family and friends protection. Now my Supposed Leader is making them strip in front of anyone deemed TRAINED.
Disgusting behaviour from a supposed leader of men.
Bend over Britain all is lost.
PS funny how the shares in these machines are on the up. Some one is making a lot of money out this.