by Ron Holland
The latest terrorist assault on air travel again shows the futility and incompetence of most government security measures to protect the flying public. The TSA initial reaction has been to ban going to the WC for the last hour of flying time because this is when the alleged terrorist went to the bathroom and prepared his low-tech firecracker bomb. So, what does this really mean as a deterrent? What a joke, the terrorist simply goes to the WC 1:15 minutes earlier to do the dirty deed.
Once again, as with the shoe bomber, airline passengers in reality are the best defense against terror attacks, not overpaid airport and homeland security personnel going through the motions and watching the clock until their shift is over. I fear most airline security is simply a government make-work project designed to reduce public fears of flying rather than safeguard the passengers. This became very clear to me in a recent trip to Vancouver, BC.
First, I always fly with a carry-on because I dress casual when flying and have temporarily lost too many bags when I needed to be dressed for an event or business meeting. Second, once home from a trip I never think about my bag until the hour before I leave when I always find myself in a mad scramble to get packed as my wife looks on and says, “I told you to do this ahead of time.”