5 ms·

Please, modern day airport security is pure theater designed to make naive people have the illusion of safety, and for politicians to line up the pockets of som

Please, modern day airport security is pure theater designed to make naive people have the illusion of safety, and for politicians to line up the pockets of some contractors. If a terrorist has arrived at the airport with intent to cause harm, security has already failed. It doesn't matter if the guy doesn't get on the plane - he could just do it in the terminal and cause even more casualties. The real way to prevent these attacks lies with intelligence agencies, to stop them wayyy before it becomes the airport's problem.

la_barba 7y ago
>It doesn't matter if the guy doesn't get on the plane - he could just do it in the terminal and cause even more casualties. Well, if the bad guy was denied boarding, then by definition the security is not "pure theater", and at-least as far as the screening is concerned, it did work as intended. It seems obvious to me that at this moment in time, the populace is more sensitive to violence occurring in certain kinds ofplaces. The idea that the same could occur in a park or a train or a bus or a stadium is not lost on anyone.
- wongarsu 7y ago
  If you want to cause a high number of casulties one of the most effective places to plant a bomb would probably be the line in front of an airport security checkpoint. But of course "causing casulties" and "causing terror" isn't nessesarily the same.
  - marcinzm 7y ago
    There's a lot of places with packed lines however bombs aren't that great in open spaces. A similarly sized bomb on a plane would kill a lot more people. Most mass casualty bombings seem to involve multiple coordinated attacks in dense locations and still don't get near the death toll of a single medium sized airplane.
reaperducer 7y ago
Please, modern day airport security is pure theater designed to make naive people have the illusion of safety, and for politicians to line up the pockets of some contractors This is a very American-centric kind of cynicism and myopia. In countries that had to cope with hijackings and terrorist bombings for decades before 9/11, this kind of "theater" is effective and welcome.
- marcinzm 7y ago
  The US also dealt with a lot of hijackings and bombings decades ago. Mysteriously they mostly stopped once security and metal detectors got implemented.
- mixmastamyk 7y ago
  An American glad to hear this. However, is it the same theater or a somewhat different one?
  - wongarsu 7y ago
    Mostly a very different one, and there are varied approaches. One of the more successful ones is Israel, where they do the standard bag scanning etc but spend most of their effort on screening for suspicious people and then more thoroughly inspecting them. The US system seems to mostly ignore what's effective or efficient and works mostly as a jobs program.
    - jdavis703 7y ago
      I suppose the system seems efficient as long as you don’t look like a “suspicious people.” I was kind of surprised when in Denmark I was accused of lying about liquids being in my bag, pulled aside, had everything searched and tossed out the bag, and then was mocked for the (potentially excessive) amount of Läkerol candies I had. After they admitted there were no liquids or other contraband I was shooed out while trying to precariously balance my electronics, clothes and other items... So much for efficiency.
    - Pulcinella 7y ago

la_barba 7y ago

>It doesn't matter if the guy doesn't get on the plane - he could just do it in the terminal and cause even more casualties. Well, if the bad guy was denied boarding, then by definition the security is not "pure theater", and at-least as far as the screening is concerned, it did work as intended. It seems obvious to me that at this moment in time, the populace is more sensitive to violence occurring in certain kinds ofplaces. The idea that the same could occur in a park or a train or a bus or a stadium is not lost on anyone.

wongarsu 7y ago
If you want to cause a high number of casulties one of the most effective places to plant a bomb would probably be the line in front of an airport security checkpoint. But of course "causing casulties" and "causing terror" isn't nessesarily the same.
- marcinzm 7y ago
  There's a lot of places with packed lines however bombs aren't that great in open spaces. A similarly sized bomb on a plane would kill a lot more people. Most mass casualty bombings seem to involve multiple coordinated attacks in dense locations and still don't get near the death toll of a single medium sized airplane.

reaperducer 7y ago

Please, modern day airport security is pure theater designed to make naive people have the illusion of safety, and for politicians to line up the pockets of some contractors This is a very American-centric kind of cynicism and myopia. In countries that had to cope with hijackings and terrorist bombings for decades before 9/11, this kind of "theater" is effective and welcome.

marcinzm 7y ago
The US also dealt with a lot of hijackings and bombings decades ago. Mysteriously they mostly stopped once security and metal detectors got implemented.
mixmastamyk 7y ago
An American glad to hear this. However, is it the same theater or a somewhat different one?
- wongarsu 7y ago
  Mostly a very different one, and there are varied approaches. One of the more successful ones is Israel, where they do the standard bag scanning etc but spend most of their effort on screening for suspicious people and then more thoroughly inspecting them. The US system seems to mostly ignore what's effective or efficient and works mostly as a jobs program.
  - jdavis703 7y ago
    I suppose the system seems efficient as long as you don’t look like a “suspicious people.” I was kind of surprised when in Denmark I was accused of lying about liquids being in my bag, pulled aside, had everything searched and tossed out the bag, and then was mocked for the (potentially excessive) amount of Läkerol candies I had. After they admitted there were no liquids or other contraband I was shooed out while trying to precariously balance my electronics, clothes and other items... So much for efficiency.
  - Pulcinella 7y ago