There’s more fallout from that botched Christmas Day terror plot, and it’s something regular readers will be familiar with. It looks like the man who tried to blow up that airplane had explosives stitched into his underpants. The result? A push for more widespread use of those full body scanners we’ve been talking about for some time now.
Right now, full body scanners are only available in a few airports around the U.S. (Your standard issue metal detector wouldn’t have found the device in the man’s pants, as it obviously didn’t.) You’d need a fancier detector of some sort, such as a millimeter-wave scanner. Those things aren’t inexpensive, so the debate will be: how much can we afford to spend. Or, cleverly, how much can we afford not to spend?
But before we get into that, I point you in the direction of this illustration of the dangers you face every time you board an airplane.That’s right: there’s a one-in-10.4 million chance that you’ll be involved in any sort of airplane-related terrorist attack.
“We were very lucky this time but we may not be so lucky next time, which is why our defenses must be strengthened,” said Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. Fair enough, but “might” would be the operative word. But again, if you look at the odds, there’s very little the average person should be concerned about.
Long story short: if you’re not already comfortable with the idea of full body scanner, too bad.