the transportation security strategy of the United States is overwhelmingly a law enforcement one. That is, what we do at our airports is inherently reactive and designed to prevent the last attack.
with al qaeda having successfully tested and deployed the body-cavity bomb, there is a day in our future where multiple passengers on multiple planes will be blown up. Given the current trajectory of our current aviation security strategy, the response will 'logically' be the body-cavity searches of millions of innocent passengers
Scanners are part of what has become an unsustainable security strategy: That is, treating each and every passenger ... as potential terrorists, and attempting to inspect their bodies and belongings for each and every possible weapon. This simply isn't a realistic approach in a country where more than two million people fly daily.
We cannot protect ourselves from every conceivable threat, and we need to acknowledge that while focusing on a security strategy that is efficient, reasonable, and effective, and in tune with the hierarchy of threat. What we have right now is none of those things
The only feasible way to remove body-scanning (or the intrusive pat down alternative) as standard procedure is to change TSA's screening model to one that is risk-based. In practice, that would mean separating air travelers into three basic groups:
1. Trusted Travelers, who have passed a background check and are issued a biometric ID card that proves that they are the person who was cleared.
These people would get to bypass regular security lanes upon having their biometric card checked, subject only to random screening of a small fraction.
2. High-risk travelers, either those about whom no information is known or who are flagged by the various DHS intelligence lists as warranting 'Selectee' status. They would be the only ones facing body-scanner or pat down as mandatory, routine screening.
3. Ordinary travelersbasically everyone else, who would go through metal detector and put carry-ons through 2-D X-ray machines. They would not have to remove shoes or jackets, and could travel with liquids. A small fraction of this group would be subject to random 'Selectee'-type screening.
This
would focus TSA resources on the travelers most needing scrutiny
...
As for TSA claims that Trusted Traveler would be too risky, they cannot make that claim with a straight face, for two reasons. First, their parent agency DHS operates the three border-crossing programs
which operate on exactly the same principle. Second, TSA itself applies this principle for the hundreds of thousands of people who work at airports and need access to secure areas to do their jobs
