December 27, 2009 One bag = suspect?
The botched Christmas Day bombing was disturbing enough. The suggestion from this news story even more so for one-bag, no-check travelers:
Police know that the KLM ticket that Abdulmutallab travelled on was purchased on 16 December, with cash, in Nigeria. The departure airport was changed from Accra to Lagos shortly afterwards. When he took his window seat, number 19A, he had only one piece of hand luggage and none in the hold – unusual for someone who was allegedly planning a two-week stay in Detroit. - independent.co.uk
Ouch. What onebagger hasn’t gotten some suspicious glances on international departures? But we must hope it doesn’t become a guaranteed red flag. More on the failed attempt and why it is likely to make the security experience more unpredictable and likely more draconian:
Some airlines will be introducing tough new security checks.
Frank@OBOW
Tougher measures worldwide were demanded yesterday by the US Transportation Security Administration as it sought to prevent a repeat of the lapses that allowed a bomber on to flight 253 on Christmas Day.
New measures immediately put in place at Heathrow and other British airports included stricter security checks such as more frequent body searches just prior to boarding, and a strict limit of one item of hand luggage. Some airlines will now compel passengers to sit in their seats for the last hour of a flight. - independent.co.uk
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After checking in and going through security as normal, passengers can expect extra bag checks and body searches at the departure gate before boarding flights.
And travellers were being told to remain seated for the final hour of the journey, with no access to the bathroom or overhead lockers, and nothing on their laps.
Airport operator BAA said: “Passengers travelling to the United States should expect their airline to carry out additional security checks prior to boarding.
“To support this important process, which will take time, we would advise passengers to leave more time to check in and limit the amount of baggage being taken on board the aircraft. - independent.co.uk
Reader Comments (9)
And everyone overreacts with security theater. I don't mind extra security on the ground, but this is what makes me mad:
And travellers were being told to remain seated for the final hour of the journey, with no access to the bathroom or overhead lockers, and nothing on their laps
We are forced to sit like zombies because the U.S. government, and screeners in Nigeria and Amsterdam screwed up. Do they blame them? Of course not, they just take it out on the rest of us.
What about the baby on board that needs changing? Sorry, kid, if mommy changes you during the last hour, she goes to jail. What about the diabetic if he needs insulin? Sorry, you have a choice: go to jail or go into coma. And if you go into coma, no one can help you because they will go to jail since they got up.
I guess TSA did a study that shows terrorists can't tell time so if it's one hour and 15 minutes prior to landing, they won't be able to figure that out. They can only act when it's an hour or less to landing.
TSA ridiculousness.
Agree very much. It's only theater. I can only repeat what I've been saying all along. With 500,000 names on the list and probably another half million who should be on the list but aren't even known plus millions of potential terrorists that are ready to give up their own lives just to damage the US, there is nothing we can do to protect civil aviation. The scenarios for hi-jacking or getting a bomb aboard are endless.
All it does under guarantee is that it ruins the travel experience even more and it makes business harder for the airlines and associated companies. It also ruins the spirit of a great nation. Mission accomplished.
There are quite a few things the USA could do to improve its standing and respect in the world as a whole including the arab or Muslim world but they are all but utopian:
- put Bush and Cheney on trial either for frauding two elections or as war criminals, disown them, give money to victims. Imagine how a life sentence for them would look.
- at the same time agree to have US soldiers judged in The Hague like many other nations
- change the electoral system to something resembling a true democracy where each vote actually counts and counts the same and where there is more than two parties
- become the leaders in positive climate change
- become leaders in disarmament
- pump money into development projects in third world Muslim countries
The security theater does nothing to improve the situation, it rather makes America even more disliked and even less interesting as a business or vacation destination, which is not in the interest of exchange.
Agree 100% with Buzz.
Agree 100% with Buzz, the TSA should be the STA, the Security Theater Administration. The best thing that the US could could do for airline security is to get rid of the TSA and put the airlines and individual airports in charge. They have a vested interest in both security and customer service, and will find the best balance of the two. We also need to get off this PC kick of not allowing screeners to profile. Yes, I know that it is a dirty word in some circles, but when was the last time that a 80 year old grandmother from the widwest triedc to hijack a plane? With one exception, ALL of the hijackings, bombings, or attempts to do the same have ben carried out by a uniform group. Why should I, who is not a member of that group, be inconvienced because of actions by them. If those actions had actually been carried out by white, middle-aged, Protestant males, then yes I should undergo extra scrutiny to do something that is a voluntary activity. Said activity which is a privilege, and most certainly not a right. There were procedures in place that weren't followed, and that is where the failure is.
There is NOTHING that the US could do to make the Arab or Muslim world happy, except to go extinct. TIll is right that those actions are utpoian, altough I don't know if the statement is made for the same reasons that I would say it. Those actions are utopian in that it is folly to think that there is anything that we could do to make our image better in the arab and muslim worlds. Any actions that we as a nation take that smack of appeasement would only be seen as weakness, and continue to encourage these kind of attacks.
What all of us who are Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, (and hopefully) moderate Muslim in our religious outlook share is a belief that SUICIDE either is cowardly when it destroys others at the same time, or that suicide is a "mortal sin," which if one has a belief in an afterlife, leads directly to permanent perdition, i.e., hell (a place which I imagine as resembling an airline terminal during a security lockdown aggravated by a three day blizzard.)
By contrast, clearly there is a thread within radical Islam which creates a belief that suicide committed for ideological and political reasons creates a conduit to heaven. Until the world figures out how to undermine this concept within the minds of young Muslims, we will continue to face the sort of threat so barely averted on Flight 253, in large part due to an alert Dutchman who if he had been a soldier, would now be up for a Medal of Honor.
As untechnological as it may seem, now may be the time for all of us with a conventional view of mortality, morality and immortality fo forge an effective alliance with educated, moderate, like-minded Muslims to undermine that core concept that has so afflicted air travel since 9/11.
What I meant with utopian was that it would be too good to be true if those measures were taken. It won't happen not because Muslims would see it as a sign of weakness but because Americans would see it as a sign of weakness. I think that it is actually a sign of great strength, pride, honor and integrity when one can see and admit to have made grave mistakes and when one does something very serious to deal with it, even if it means being humiliated for a short while. South America and Africa are trying to deal with their dictators and wrongdoings of their recent past. We see how difficult that is for them but at least they are trying.
While I agree with Alan that it is time to bring the reasonable and moderate people together, this won't help, either. It will just create a united front against the extremists. What might work is trying to give extremists reasons for not being extremists anymore. Better living conditions, health care and education as well as a healthy dose of capitalism are probably the best ways to do that. It's easy for manipulators to say "See what those devilish Americans are doing, not only are they acting like infidels but also this has a direct negative effect on us. We shall teach them a lesson." If they can't say things like that anymore and if people are treated well enough and live well enough that they aren't so desperate to blow themselves up, this is when they will stop blowing themselves up. The religious framework is just that, a framework that makes it ok to blow yourself up. It's not the reason they are doing it.
Sorry, Till, but that's naive thinking. These radicalists have one ideal....their way or you die. They don't hate us because we don't do enough fo them, they hate us for our beliefs. It's not just Americans...they hate Germans, and British and Italian and Spanish and even fellow Muslims who don't believe in their same radicalist views. And to them, we are infidels. There is no crime in killing infidels. In fact, if you do, and die, you get 72 virgins.
So unless you are willing to support Taliban type governments, there is no reasoning with groups like this. Read what's going on. They are behind killing in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, parts of Africa, Europe, the Far East......all because they hate Americans? All because they hate anyone who believes differently than they do.
And we have given money to help the poor. But their own people, steal the money. That's our fault too?
No, what we have to do is start using our brains. Start hiring people with actual law enforcement/security and intelligence experience to run the Federal AGencies that are supposed to protect us and not political appointees who got the job because they helped get the President elected. We need to start using our brains. If someone from Nigeria has a passport stamp from Yemen and is trying to get a visa to the U.S., perhaps they should get a second look. At least give them a more thorough checking at the airport.
But it won't happen. Politics wins over common sense.
" We also need to get off this PC kick of not allowing screeners to profile."
I concur, and condense some related comments from www.isreaelinsider.com, published 10/03/01 regardIng El Al practices, which I doubt have changed save for the stricter over the subsequent eight years. Their measures include:
"Rigorous questioning at passenger check-in....Upon arrival, travelers are subjected to rigorous and time-consuming questioning. While passengers are asked perfunctory questions like -- "Who packed your bags?" and "Do you have any weapons?" -- inspectors are really looking for travelers giving evasive answers or hiding information. Passengers can be interrogated separately by three different screeners...
By questioning passengers, guards can quickly spot those who appear nervous...passengers are profiled -- while most Israeli Jews quickly pass through security inspection, Arabs and certain foreigners are singled out for intense grilling.
Some pieces of luggage are opened and carefully inspected, down to the contents of the smallest toothpaste tube. Sophisticated high-tech explosives detection equipment is used to examine all luggage, according to a former El Al security chief, Tuvia Livneh. While similar scanning equipment is used for spot checks at other airports, no other airline requires as many luggage scans as El Al...
...El Al is probably the only airline that places all its cargo in decompression chambers before takeoff. At least 10 planes have been blown up with explosives set off by a barometric fuse, sensitive to altitude...."
http://www.israelinsider.com/channels/security/articles/sec_0108.htm
With apologies in advance to all peace-loving young moderate Muslims, who abhor terror and who might well be our allies in the counter-terror effort, I see little choice for US airlines at this time to adopt airline passenger PROFILING. Travel security is not just about detecting guns, knives and bombs. It is every bit as much about detecting ideology, attitudes and potential intent.
Very well stated Alan. Thanks for the link.