Adonis I might also have no problem with those body scanners. But on second thought I probably still would. As BBC reports:
Transport Secretary Lord Adonis said in the immediate future only a small proportion of airline passengers would be selected for scanning.
In a written statement to the House of Commons, he said: “If a passenger is selected for scanning, and declines, they will not be permitted to fly.”
Well, good for them. But what really freaks me out are the “excuses”:
The new security rules have been introduced following the attempt to blow up a plane over Detroit on Christmas Day.
Hullo? So let’s use body scanners because the current freakishly paranoid security measures aren’t enough to catch nutters like the one in the plane to Detroit about which the US agencies were well informed (even by the father of the bomber)? Oh, not to forget that according to some news reports that person was on board without a passport?!
So what they are saying is that despite all the current security measures they have to create more false security by pretending to “do something” through the introduction of some additional technical measures? Did I get that right? So what? It’s been proven that the body scanners only work on things that are close to the skin. And that doesn’t even include body cavities. Hey, pensioners won’t be a problem in future if every passenger is going to be x-rayed and dies of cancer early. As far as I’m concerned they can shove their fake security where terrorists are going to shove their plastic explosive once body scanners have been widely introduced …
Nothing, nothing at all will keep a determined attacker from pursuing his attack plan and succeeding with it, if whatever drives those nutters is enough for them to forfeit their lives. Nothing! The only thing we could attempt to do is to make this a more just world in which nutters like these won’t even have a place. But that’s too idealistic and far-fetched …
Somehow this world is getting more and more surreal with every year that goes by.
// Oliver
PS: Israel, certainly one of the more exposed countries when it comes to (actual) terrorism, has been very successful with airport security. And guess how?! Not so much with technical measures that will produce a false sense of security, but with people who are trained to notice certain behavioral patterns.
Update: this is a good match for this topic …