I know that you and a lot of other travelers fervently want to believe that all the costly, time-consuming hassles of the TSA’s “enhanced screening” provide effective protection against a very serious and very real threat. And indeed, I would unquestioningly and gratefully subject myself to whatever restrictions, inconveniences, and indignities competent officials deemed necessary if I had reason to believe they were effective. Unfortunately, the TSA comes up lacking every time it’s tested for effectiveness. All the TSA has really done is put patches and band-aids on the very same system that failed on 9/11. The result has been an increasingly costly, bothersome, intrusive (and maddeningly inconsistent) burden on travelers, with nothing to suggest that we’re getting anything for what it’s inflicting.

The TSA provides nothing more than the illusion of security, based on the premise that hassle and intrusion are synonymous with effectiveness. Many people (apparently including you) buy into this, possibly because you want our Leaders to “do something” and the TSA is “doing something.” But illusory security is arguably worse than no security at all, since it steals so much of our money, time, privacy, and dignity with the same result as no security at all.

I’m all for effective security, which for aviation means preventing terrorists from getting anywhere near an airport. We should all be outraged that after eight years and billions of dollars spent on an enormous “Homeland Security” bureaucracy, our government still seems no more capable of doing that than they were in 2001. And we should be at least as outraged that the primary reaction is the same as in 2001, to add more costly, burdensome, and useless hassles to ineffective airport screening. We the people deserve better than that.

I would rather have them overreact then DO NOTHING. That’s exactly how this incident happened in the first place. Americans are such whiners, they want security but none of the inconveniences that come with it. Terrorists hate us, just like they hate Israel. When’s the last time a BOMB got onto an Israeli jet? Airport Security in Israel is lengthy and THOROUGH.
How did they penetrate the security of the Israeli people? Suicide bombers. Did you think they would NOT try that with AMERICANS?

The underwear bomber provided the opportunity to highlight this new “enhancement.” The unpredictability and inconsistency you see at different airports and checkpoints is not… I repeat NOT… due to incompetence, stupidity, or any deficiencies in the TSA’s management, policies, or operations. It actually reflects a carefully-designed strategy of continuous dynamic calibration that reflects the continually changing environment at each checkpoint along with the very latest robust intelligence concerning current threats. This highly precise calibration is designed to keep terrorists off balance, which ensures that the TSA always remains one step ahead of a determined and protean enemy.

I have no doubt that the spin will prove effective at bamboozling a significant percentage of the traveling public into not only ignoring the obvious, but accepting the TSA’s reactive approach that equates hassle with security. However, if enough of us shout “Rubbish!” in forums like these, perhaps someone in Congress will finally get the message that the TSA needs to be replaced with something that’s accountable, cost-effective. Some security measures at airports are clearly necessary and appropriate, but dubious reactive hassles for the sake of “doing something” are clearly not appropriate.