Does the TSA think Terrorists are stupid?

 <p>I travel for business and pleasure fairly regularly and I like to play a little game I call "<a href="http://post.offbeatmammal.com/opting-out-for-freedom">opting out for freedom</a>" where I don't subject myself to any security measure that isn't applied across the board to every person getting within damaging range of an aircraft.</p> <p></p> <p>While I'm not an American, as I live here at the moment it's interesting to watch how the TSA is using a nebulous threat to eat away at the historic protections, and accuse anyone who questions their actions or motives of being a terrorist.</p> <p></p> <p>The Constitution of the United States, a document which is supposed to set out the rights for its citizens and ensure that the Government does not abuse those it is elected to govern, includes as part of the Fourth Amendment: "The right of the people to be <b>secure in their persons</b>, houses, papers, and effects, <b>against unreasonable searches</b> and seizures, shall not be violated..." &hellip; some would argue that the new image scanners and pat downs are a clear violation of that. It's interesting to read the comments from "Blogger Bob's" post when the TSA implemented the new "<a href="http://blog.tsa.gov/2010/11/new-tsa-pat-down-procedures.html">enhanced pat-downs</a>" and the total lack of meaningful response. More PR drivel from the <b>Theatrical Security Agency</b>.</p> <p></p> <p>"Theatrical Security Agency?" you say. "Surely you got that wrong?"</p> <p></p> <p>Well, I don't think so. All of their measures are reactive (taking off your shoes, no liquids over 3oz) and even the new scanners (millimeter wave and backscatter x-ray) have been demonstrated to be flawed at detecting the very things they claim to detect (but don't point that out or the lobbyists who work for the firms earning millions of dollars to install these devices will shout you down). Do they make us any safer? I suspect not&hellip; in fact I couldn't find a single press release about a successful nullification of a security threat thanks to all these measures.</p> <p></p> <p>In fact, it's possible to argue that by concentrating people at checkpoint lines and piling up even mundane confiscated items (like nail-clippers or <a href="http://t.co/lK0WZ8B">Utili-keys</a>) the security agencies are creating potential death-traps. Luckily only in <a href="http://t.co/8AScsl8">fiction</a> so far (though a similar attack has already happened in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domodedovo_International_Airport_bombing">Russia</a>)</p> <p align="center" style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://t.co/8AScsl8"><span style="color:windowtext;text-decoration:none;"><div class='p_embed p_image_embed'> <img alt="Image001" height="303" src="/images/2011/06/image001.png?w=300" width="470" />

</div> </a> Iain M Banks - Transition But this is all old news. <h1>Why do I wonder if the TSA thinks Terrorists are stupid?</h1> I’ve noticed something travelling over the last few months which disturbs me. Because if I notice it without evil intent and simply as a way to make my journey through the enforced conga line of my (currently twice weekly) TSA then you have to imagine that terrorists may have thought this out themselves (after all if they are clever enough to wage international war against America, get paid and trained by America, learn how to fly planes in America they’re probably smart enough to spot the obvious) The new scanners… are all theater. In every one of the airports I’ve travelled through in the past few months there’s one common factor… there is always a way to avoid them. In some airports there are lanes that simply don’t go past the scanner, and I’ve yet to see a person forced to go around to a machine. In other airports there are often lanes where the scanner isn’t operating or not staffed so everyone is simply going through the metal detector arch. Even in places where it’s in use the “random” selection is anything but… just the other morning I watched the 50+ people in the queue ahead of me get split so alternate pairs were sent through the new imaging device… I was able to save myself the trouble of opting out simply by timing when I stepped away from the conveyor belt after consigning my bag to the xray. As September 11 2009 proved terrorists aren’t always lone wolves (in fact as TWA 847 and 840 or the simultaneous hijacking of 5 aircraft in 1970)… what’s to stop a number of people walking past security with the parts to a weapon or the components of a liquid bomb that then get consolidated. Heck, I’ve even arranged travel before so I could meet a colleague at an airport – in our case it was to exchange paperwork, but once inside the security cordon with some imagination and a decent travel budget, it’s probably not hard to muddy the waters though backtracking via the now ubiquitous security cameras would at least help unravel the trail after any such event. The problem the TSA, and others like them, face is huge. They have to be seen to be doing something but they can never be 100% successful. Politically motivated, doomed for failure, influenced by lobbyists, staffed by minimum wage unionized civil servants they know they are doomed to failure but while the money’s there for the taking (and conspiracy theorists would suggest they can be used to wind back civil liberties) they’ll keep on doing what they do. There may be no solution, and there’s certainly no easy answer. Redesigning airports from the ground up to provide multiple layers of security, adding Israeli style human filters, implementing 100% coverage with security measures, reducing hand luggage while increasing automated scanning of cargo, stopping the CAI meddling in other counties affairs and stop going to war to support the oil/mineral economy – these will all help… but faced with a determined threat all these prophylactic measures will do is make the terrorist work harder to achieve their goals. “People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both.” - Benjamin Franklin.