JayStream

Abdul Farouk Umar Abdulmutallab was unable to bring down a jetliner with the 80 grams of PETN explosive he sewed into his underpants. But he sure brought down the sheer craziness of a federal agency with a track record for knee-jerk reactions that penalize law abiding citizens – but do nothing to thwart the bad guys.

The Transportation Security Administration announced unspecified extra security measures that were immediately implemented upon Abdul’s capture. While the TSA won’t confirm what those measures are, passengers on other flights have reported that they were unable to get up or move about plane during the final hour of their trip, and that blanket usage was prohibited during the same time – presumably to prevent anyone else from secretly igniting their underpants.

Amsterdam's Schipol Airport, gateway to Europe.

I have been on that same Northwest/Delta’s flight from Amsterdam to Detroit several times, and I can tell you that this guy had to get through multiple layers of security. Before anyone can board a flight at Amsterdam’s Schpol airport, one has to pass through standard passport control, where passports are scrutinized by Dutch security. There are always a number of disappointed travelers sitting outside the security office, because their passports were refused until they undergo additional scrutiny behind closed doors. Abdul’s name must not have appeared on Holland’s suspicious passport list.

After they clear passport control, passengers go through metal detectors and have their bags screened before proceeding to their gate. But for those flying to the United States, there is another security screening that takes place at the Northwest/Delta gate. This time, each passenger gets a personal interview by Dutch security personnel presumably employed by the American TSA. Passengers are asked the standard questions… “Where have you been, what have you been doing, who packed your luggage,” etc. Then there is another set of metal detectors for bodies and bags before anyone gets on the plane. Unlike the Dutch screening, this time passengers are forced to remove their shoes – a tip of a hat to shoe bomber Richard Reid.

Somehow Abdul got on the plane. He apparently had the right answers to the questions, and his crotch failed to trip any of the sensors. And the TSA responded with some new regulations that would have done nothing – NOTHING – to prevent Abdul’s diabolical scheme. If a terrorist gets explosives on a plane, he will still be able to use them – as long as he is courageous enough to disobey the seat belt sign.

The TSA announced the irritating, meaningless measures because it feels it has to do something - even when it is powerless to do anything meaningful. There will now be calls for those full-body scanners, the same ones that were criticized by civil rights and women’s groups because they allow screeners to see beneath clothing. A better idea would be to do what other countries do: profile. Take everyone whose passport isn’t attached to a documented, long-time history of law abiding behavior, and run them through additional screening including highly-invasive pat-downs. After all, 80 grams of explosive hidden in underpants is pretty hard to detect.

As I see it, we have three choices: full-body scanning that violates people’s privacy, profiling that violates people’s rights, or new TSA regulations that irritate everyone without providing one bit of actual protection.

Given our society’s adherence to political correctness, I’m betting on the latter.

UPDATE, 1/5/2010: Here is a sure-fire way to make the TSA more effective: Give any TSA employee who finds explosives on a passenger a 50 thousand dollar cash bonus. Really. That includes the Dutch contractors, too. There is no better incentive for a thorough job of screening than by offering big cash for a terrorist collar.

Jay News, Travel PETN, Schipol, TSA