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I must have missed the headline. Could someone please tell me the last time a 12-year-old girl detonated a bomb on an airplane in a suicidal terrorism mission in the name of Allah?
Obviously I missed a story somewhere, because apparently, pre-teens now pose a very real security threat to America.
From the St. Petersburg Times:
A Baltimore family is raising the issue [of body scanners] after their 12-year-old daughter was pulled out of line in Tampa and subjected to what they say was an embarrassing and unhealthy scan. The girl was traveling with an adult friend of the family, not her parents.
"Our daughter was scared and didn't understand what was happening," said Michelle Nemphos, the mother of the girl. She declined to give her daughter's name. "In essence they conducted a strip search on a 12-year-old girl without her parents present to advocate for her."
Or maybe, just maybe, 12-year-olds traveling from one U.S. city to another U.S. city with a friend's family don't pose security risks to our friendly skies.
Here's the thing about those body scanners -- they're optional. Anyone can refuse to be scanned, opting instead for a pat down by security. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that these x-ray body scanners will not improve our security efforts one iota.
Remember the panty-bomber? Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Muslim on the no-fly list, boarded a plane with explosives in his briefs. What about Faisal Shahzad, the New York Times Square would-be-bomber? He almost escaped the United States on one of our planes, despite also being on the no-fly list.
Here's a thought: Why don't we concentrate on actually following the safety procedures we have in place before we spend billions of dollars on body scanners to be used on 12-year-old girls? There is a no-fly list. How on earth are these people getting onto our planes? Let's concentrate on that first.
After we get the no-fly list squared away, how about some common sense? Why are little girls and grandmothers getting patted down at airport security? Why was I taken aside for questioning the last time I flew because I forgot to put the lip gloss in my purse into a quart-sized plastic bag?
I practically had my favorite Bare Escentuals gloss confiscated, was patted down because of it even, yet Abdulmutallab walked onto an airplane with explosives in his undies. I guess he couldn't be patted down. Against his religion, you know.
Body scanners are also against the Muslim religion, which is very strict on nudity and modesty (hello burkas!). Because body scanning is not a requirement, Muslims will, of course, turn it down. Which means that security will instead gawk, oops, I mean strip search, oops, I mean examine the naked bodies of 12-year-olds that don't know they can say no. Boy, there's not really any way I can say that without it sounding wrong, can I?
It's time to put political correctness aside and face facts. Little girls traveling with family friends do not blow up planes. Islamic men on the no-fly list do. Let's fix the foundation of our national security before we start trying to build a naked body scanner on it. Otherwise, the entire thing is just going to crumble into pieces.
Comments (12)
I am SO against these scanners! I've read that some airports force the scanners, that there's no other option. I've been pulled aside when flying to be patted down/thoroughly scanned. The thing that got me was that it was obvious the woman didn't get anything from doing it and it was also obvious (for my barely there clothing that I coveted before children) that if I was hiding something it was IN my body. So, I know that the machines pick who gets to be pulled aside some times.
I don't always agree with you but this is one thing where I'm completely with you. Practice the rules/laws that are already in place before adding more to ignore and abuse.
Sure it seems unrational to you. but also 9/11 came as a suprise that they would use your own planes to attack you with. Coming from Israel were it is very common for 12 yr olds to be terrorists, as well as women and grandmother nothing should go unpassed! scanning a 12 yr old is harmless compared to if explosives were smuggled on and another plane goes down. i agree that there should be heitened security regarding the do not fly list. but understand they don't know who can be harmfull. you can easily get a fake passport or id and arabs come blonde haired and blue eyed as well so understand if they pull you aside you should abide by resolving the matter as protocal requires. and be thankfull that they are out there trying to protect you. i would especially beware of toddlers and infants because those that are out to start something will harm whoever they need in the name of allah. Americans need to smarten up!
MJ - You're an idiot!
There have never been any attacks of ANY SORT originating in the US.
9/11 doesn't count - Box cutters were allowed at that time.
The explosive threat on US domestic flights is negligible and less of a risk than radiation from these scanners, and if one were to occur, chances are that TSA would not catch it anyway.
Steve - your an idiot - 9/11 counts!
Saying that the body scaners are against the muslim religion is an over generalization. I have seen a situation where the husband of a woman wearing a full hijab ordered her to use the body scaner rather then have a non family male touch her.
I am in full agreement with the author. The TSA is about as useful as a pair of sunglasses to a person with one ear. You disbelieve that.......why? The U.S.government, in the form of Nancy Pelosi has stated that it is not safe for her,(Pelosi) to fly on commercial aircraft in the U.S.A.
If it's not safe, why do we, the taxpayers have to do it? Again, if it's not safe, why is the government wasting billions of tax payer's money on machines and personnel that cannot make air travel safe within the U.S.A.? i mean, if we can't take Nancy Pelosi's word on safety,....whom can we trust?
To those whom love to state 9/11 as the reasons for a National Security which is a joke. The government had plenty of warning prior to the event....they just didn't believe it, couldn't act on it, and all departments displayed their usual ineptness and incompetence, plus unwillingness to cooperate with each other for the common good. Think about it!
While I completely agree that 12yr olds shouldn't be scanned there's absolutely no reason and waste of time to do it.
What bothered was that Ms. Erickson makes it sounds like everyone who looks "Muslim" should be patted down. TSA should work on not allowing those on the No Fly List on a plane first.
Her attitude makes me believe that she'll agree to several other stereotypes in "order to catch someone"... all people of color be followed when they enter a department store will most likely be her next article; because for lack of a better example a Latina woman was caught shop lifting.
Very disappointing, her true colors are showing.
Airport security is overblown generally. Think about how easy it would be to detonate a bomb in Times Square, and how much damage it would cause - it almost happened, after all. Now, compare that to what you have to submit to in order to board an airplane. Talk about misdirected manpower. Fortifying cockpit doors was a great idea, and that BY ITSELF will prevent another 9/11 from happening. But we worry far too much about someone trying to blow up a plane. Only an idiot terrorist (and there are some, granted) would try to blow up a plane. There are plenty of softer targets out there. The TSA should be drastically scaled back, and those resources redirected toward more likely targets.
Pishyah- I love comments like yours, proving that people don't have to agree on every issue to unite on one.
Jo, I have no idea why you think I think every Muslim-looking person needs to be patted down. I think that everyone fitting the description of a terrorist deserves a second look, as well as any other shifty looking characters. I don't believe that 12 year old girls are shifty looking characters.
Having spoken to military friends who saw children with bombs strapped to them in Iraq, I do not blame the TSA for ordering scans on 12 year old girls. I think that with the control that Muslim fathers can have over the females in their families, and especially if the US chooses not to consider this age/ gender range as a threat, it is very likely that a child of that age could smuggle explosives onto a plane.