Tuesday, October 8, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Stop Treating Everyone As An Equal Threat
By Heritage Foundation @ 12:16 PM :: 6521 Views :: National News, Ethics

www.Heritage.org

The Associated Press reported yesterday that “cabinet secretaries, top congressional leaders and an exclusive group of senior U.S. officials are exempt from toughened new airport screening procedures when they fly commercially with government-approved federal security details.” The article goes on to report that while the rest of the public is still subject to either a body scanner or “an intimate personal pat-down,” as of Friday the Transportation Security Administration had exempted pilots from the procedure, and then on Tuesday they added flight attendants to the exemption list.

Americans have every right to be upset about this double standard. But the solution is not ending the exemption for government officials, pilots, and flight attendants. The solution is ending the blanket body scanner requirement altogether. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says the TSA is taking a “risk-based, layered security approach.” But the TSA’s continued policy of pat-downs or body scans for all suggests otherwise.

Our nation does still face a real threat from terrorists intent on attacking passenger air travel. But that threat simply does not justify the indiscriminate use of body scanners for primary screening. The TSA should not be targeting all passengers equally. Instead, the TSA should be practicing “focused security” that directs the most resources against the greatest risks. Programs like Secure Flight could be used to allow low-risk passengers about whom a great deal is known to pass through unmolested. Leisure travelers like families traveling together would receive cursory inspection. Then the TSA could focus the lion’s share of its resources on high-risk passengers about whom either nothing is known or there is specific negative information.

The best security is intelligence and law enforcement that finds and stops the bad people before they get near the plane. Pretending that everyone is a risk, as the TSA does now, is a weak substitute for intelligence. Most of this physical screening going on now has no place in primary inspection lines. There should be some common-sense screening at the airport, but let’s stop pretending that that is the best line of defense. The TSA must back off forcing all travelers to go through body scanners.

---30---

RECENT ENTRIES

QUICK HITS

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii