Sunday, April 15, 2012

American Airport Security is "Broken"--Says the Former Head of American Airport Security

Kip Hawley, TSA chief for the 3 1/2 years prior to Obama's inauguration, writes:
You know the TSA. We're the ones who make you take off your shoes before padding through a metal detector in your socks (hopefully without holes in them). We're the ones who make you throw out your water bottles. We're the ones who end up on the evening news when someone's grandma gets patted down or a child's toy gets confiscated as a security risk. If you're a frequent traveler, you probably hate us.
More than a decade after 9/11, it is a national embarrassment that our airport security system remains so hopelessly bureaucratic and disconnected from the people whom it is meant to protect. Preventing terrorist attacks on air travel demands flexibility and the constant reassessment of threats. It also demands strong public support, which the current system has plainly failed to achieve.
The crux of the problem, as I learned in my years at the helm, is our wrongheaded approach to risk. In attempting to eliminate all risk from flying, we have made air travel an unending nightmare for U.S. passengers and visitors from overseas, while at the same time creating a security system that is brittle where it needs to be supple...
I'd put it a bit differently: for reasons of cowardice and political correctness, you have created a security system that is stupid where it needs for be smart.

Is going to second base with Granny really the best way to keep air travelers safe?

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