Editor, The News:
We are terrified that terrorists are going to commit a terrorist act on our territory.
We are especially fearful of this happening in the air. Thus, we overreact.
For example, we take off our shoes for scanning because Richard Reid tried to set off explosives in his shoes.
Now we have the underwear bomber. Following logic, we should now have to put our underwear next to our shoes in the gray box.
If that happens, I will be visiting the airport to test my new digital camera. This puts a whole new light on my mother always telling me to wear clean underwear.
TSA now has dogs that sniff for explosives. Our neighbor had a dog that sniffed unmentionable areas of my body and it was highly embarrassing. Now we will have to line up so that these dogs can get a good whiff.
I wonder if the dog can discern between explosives and other odors, and if so, what will the dog do? Will it bark, attack, or try to get the underwear off the person right away?
TSA is also instituting full body scans. Some argue this is intrusive, despite the need for security. I can hear some of the comments such as, “Is that a gun or what?”
Will they keep records of your body scan so the next time you are evaluated they can say, “We see you’ve gained a few pounds.”
El Al is the most secure airline in the world and we could learn from it. The airline conducts personal interviews before security. It is the only airline in the world that puts all bags through a special decompression chamber to discover any explosives. And it does so without government help.
Here, soon, we’ll be required to check in one day before flight.
Bruce Waldman
New Castle
