USA airport security measures

Link to the CNN article, and look, I know they aren't exactly a gold standard for news, but I haven't seen any other outlet covering this specific topic.

With these latest measures being rolled out by the USA, it feels like we've actually lost the war on terror. It sounds extreme, sure, but if you have to go to these lengths—harassing and humiliating people just to maintain a sense of security—then the terrorists have already won.

Yeah, I caught that on a Canadian radio station I stream online.
It looks like there are basically two ways this goes down:

1. A full-body scan.
Some people call it a [naked] scan—basically because the tech sees right through your clothes, making you feel as exposed as if you weren't wearing anything at all.

(If you opt out of that, you’re stuck with)

2. A manual pat-down and bag search.

So, if you're a fan of that kind of thing, be my guest.😁

briskmarlin22 said:Link to the CNN article, and look, I know they aren't exactly a gold standard for news, but I haven't seen any other outlet covering this specific topic.

With these latest measures being rolled out by the USA, it feels like we've actually lost the war on terror. It sounds extreme, sure, but if you have to go to these lengths—harassing and humiliating people just to maintain a sense of security—then the terrorists have already won.

Terrorism isn't some singular enemy you can just go out and defeat—it's a tactic! It's a method of warfare used by everyone involved in a conflict, though obviously, the scale varies. The poor tie bombs around their waists, while the wealthy drop them from high-altitude aircraft.

It has been roughly eight years since I last traveled to the USA, back in 2002. Even then, just a year after the events at the World Trade Center, security protocols had become significantly more stringent; however, my personal experience wasn't nearly as unpleasant as the media reports suggested at the time. Before departing for the USA, I had quite a lengthy conversation with a security officer before entering the Delta Air Lines terminal area in New York City. She requested the name and phone number of my contact, asked about my residence, and once she realized I spoke American, she actually asked for my assistance. She had an elderly couple from Boston standing by who didn't speak any language other than Canadian, and she didn't want to let them through until she could conduct the same interview with them. I ended up translating their "questioning," after which the officer cleared both us, and she even escorted me through to the transit counter, perhaps as a small way to make up for the time I spent acting as an interpreter. My first landing and US border control took place in Cincinnati, which is a very small airport with maybe only two or three international arrivals per day, so the passport control there was probably among the most relaxed and polite in the entire USA. The immigration officer even apologized because they were repairing the roof in the hall, forcing us to navigate around scaffolding; honestly, entering the USA felt as simple as arriving in New Orleans.

On the return trip, things were slightly more involved. In Los Angeles, I encountered three separate security checkpoints: the first at the main entrance to the terminal building, the second being the standard one after check-in, and a third in the jet bridge right before boarding the plane. It was quite crowded, especially at that second checkpoint, but the American staff were incredibly kind, patient, and accommodating—always cheerful and pleasant people—who managed to turn a relatively stressful situation into something akin to a pleasant experience. There was one other detail: every single item in every bag they searched across all three checkpoints was meticulously and carefully placed back exactly where it had been. I can personally guarantee that my clothes were more neatly packed after those inspections than they were when I originally packed them that morning before heading to the airport.

Given that personal experience during the period immediately following the attacks on New York City, I suppose I feel a great deal of skepticism toward these horror stories regarding American airports, simply because that wasn't what I experienced. If someone truly wishes to encounter disorganized and rude personnel within airport security services, they don't need to travel to the USA—they could just fly into Heathrow, LAX Airport, or most other British institutions.

slybison8 said:It has been roughly eight years since I last traveled to the USA, back in 2002. Even then, just a year after the events at the World Trade Center, security protocols had become significantly more stringent; however, my personal experience wasn't nearly as unpleasant as the media reports suggested at the time. Before departing for the USA, I had quite a lengthy conversation with a security officer before entering the Delta Air Lines terminal area in New York City. She requested the name and phone number of my contact, asked about my residence, and once she realized I spoke American, she actually asked for my assistance. She had an elderly couple from Boston standing by who didn't speak any language other than Canadian, and she didn't want to let them through until she could conduct the same interview with them. I ended up translating their "questioning," after which the officer cleared both us, and she even escorted me through to the transit counter, perhaps as a small way to make up for the time I spent acting as an interpreter. My first landing and US border control took place in Cincinnati, which is a very small airport with maybe only two or three international arrivals per day, so the passport control there was probably among the most relaxed and polite in the entire USA. The immigration officer even apologized because they were repairing the roof in the hall, forcing us to navigate around scaffolding; honestly, entering the USA felt as simple as arriving in New Orleans.

On the return trip, things were slightly more involved. In Los Angeles, I encountered three separate security checkpoints: the first at the main entrance to the terminal building, the second being the standard one after check-in, and a third in the jet bridge right before boarding the plane. It was quite crowded, especially at that second checkpoint, but the American staff were incredibly kind, patient, and accommodating—always cheerful and pleasant people—who managed to turn a relatively stressful situation into something akin to a pleasant experience. There was one other detail: every single item in every bag they searched across all three checkpoints was meticulously and carefully placed back exactly where it had been. I can personally guarantee that my clothes were more neatly packed after those inspections than they were when I originally packed them that morning before heading to the airport.

Given that personal experience during the period immediately following the attacks on New York City, I suppose I feel a great deal of skepticism toward these horror stories regarding American airports, simply because that wasn't what I experienced. If someone truly wishes to encounter disorganized and rude personnel within airport security services, they don't need to travel to the USA—they could just fly into Heathrow, LAX Airport, or most other British institutions.

kidnapping people from foreign countries, torture, killings, and insane border controls,
and we used to laugh at East Germany for stuff like that, but these guys brought it into the 21st century 🙄

Andrew Wright23 said:kidnapping people from foreign countries, torture, killings, and insane border controls,
and we used to laugh at East Germany for stuff like that, but these guys brought it into the 21st century 🙄

I feel that perhaps only truly malicious individuals would attempt to compare the current security measures at the US borders to the regime that existed in East Germany.🙄

slybison8 said:I feel that perhaps only truly malicious individuals would attempt to compare the current security measures at the US borders to the regime that existed in East Germany.🙄

Man, talk about swapping arguments with a buddy,
if we're talking about actual malice, look at how the USA treats the entire world!
And don't even get me started on how they treat their own citizens since they kicked off that whole war on terror—
basically, they've been waging war on themselves.

Andrew Wright23 said:Man, talk about swapping arguments with a buddy,
if we're talking about actual malice, look at how the USA treats the entire world!
And don't even get me started on how they treat their own citizens since they kicked off that whole war on terror—
basically, they've been waging war on themselves.

The USA acts in a manner that seems appropriate for the world's leading superpower. I think if you simply avoid direct confrontation with them, everything tends to remain stable—they likely won't interfere with you or cause any trouble.

slybison8 said:The USA acts in a manner that seems appropriate for the world's leading superpower. I think if you simply avoid direct confrontation with them, everything tends to remain stable—they likely won't interfere with you or cause any trouble.

Are you seriously sure that just leaving them alone is enough to keep them from showing up at your doorstep?
Do I really need to go down a list of all the countries they've invaded out of nowhere?

And what happened to all that talk about freedom of speech? Did it just vanish into thin air?

The USA acts exactly how a global superpower should. Don't mess with them and everything stays fine—they won't come after you or start swinging.

How charming. Why does the world even need a single superpower or a "global police force" anyway? Sure, the Chinese might end up being worse than the Americans, but that doesn't make these guys some kind of moral compass.

It honestly feels like when it comes to the USA, you really only fall into two camps,
you either absolutely adore them or you can't stand their guts,

one side thinks they should basically act like the world's biggest bully and just bomb whoever they feel like regardless of the reason,
while the other group hates them because they don't see why anyone should have some god-given right to harass the entire planet with such primitive behavior,

It seems like when it comes to the USA, people only fall into two camps:
you either worship them or you despise them.

I don't hate them; it’s just their fanboys that drive me crazy.

If China were the superpower, they'd be preaching about Mao Zedong's "right path" and how the Chinese are spreading progress through Tibet and Xinjiang. They don't actually care about America; they just suck up to whoever happens to be the strongest. 😁

Andrew Wright23, do you really have to turn every single thread into a debate about the so-called "imperialist-fascist-traitorous regime" known as the USA?

Let's stay on topic. I'm all for implementing measures to keep passengers safe. As for the critics, maybe we should just set up special flights for them where their "privacy isn't violated"—but then their families wouldn't be able to sue for damages when Ahmed scatters them at 30,000 feet.

Safety on planes matters just as much.
Honestly, we should probably be handing out parachutes to everyone on board—not to mention accounting for all those other potential disasters waiting to happen.

briskmarlin22 said:Link to the CNN article, and look, I know they aren't exactly a gold standard for news, but I haven't seen any other outlet covering this specific topic.

With these latest measures being rolled out by the USA, it feels like we've actually lost the war on terror. It sounds extreme, sure, but if you have to go to these lengths—harassing and humiliating people just to maintain a sense of security—then the terrorists have already won.

The USA hasn't "lost" anything—it's just that their entire geopolitical strategy in the Middle East and elsewhere has been fundamentally broken. Terrorists aren't ready for what's coming, but that only happens once the USA pulls its troops out of Iraq and other hotspots. First, though, someone needs to force the leadership in the European Union and the USA to finally deport the people sowing fear among peaceful citizens. Real wars aren't fought with armies—they're won with intelligence agencies, high tech, and raw data. Without total coordination between politics, intel, and the military, you're just shooting blanks.

Security checkpoints feel more like an internal power grab than actual safety measures. This whole "half-baked savior" regime is basically just using tactics to chip away at our individual freedoms. And honestly? No matter how many layers of control they pile on, not a single terrorist plot has actually been caught thanks to these specific checks. In just two years, the TSA workforce ballooned from 16,000 to a massive 67,000 people! It’s clearly just bureaucratic political correctness being pushed through, which somehow ends up shielding Islamic terrorists in the background. Of course, this is going to make everyone absolutely furious, and by the next election, we can probably expect a Ronald Reagan type administration—or maybe something even more radical.
I didn't have any travel plans lined up, but if I were you, I’d suggest avoiding flying in, out of, or even within the USA altogether. We should aim to cause as much disruption as possible through civil disobedience. Let's force the TSA to either actually do the job they were hired for or just stop this nonsense and let airlines handle their own security protocols.

So I’m at JFK Airport going through security, right? And this guy working the checkpoint has an Iranian flag tattooed on him, despite being employed by a British institution.
I mean, he’s supposed to be all about security, but Iran and the United Kingdom are basically in a cold war right now, aren't they?

Richard Wilson4 said:So I’m at JFK Airport going through security, right? And this guy working the checkpoint has an Iranian flag tattooed on him, despite being employed by a British institution.
I mean, he’s supposed to be all about security, but Iran and the United Kingdom are basically in a cold war right now, aren't they?

What on earth does someone's country of origin, their tattoos, or their potential nationalism have to do with their professional duties? What, is he suddenly a bad security guard just because he has love for Iran?

Anthony Carter4 said:What on earth does someone's country of origin, their tattoos, or their potential nationalism have to do with their professional duties? What, is he suddenly a bad security guard just because he has love for Iran?

It all depends on what kind of work we're talking about here. If a guy works for the local sanitation department, I truly couldn't care less about his tattoos or who he cheers for.🤷

But this fellow is working airport security, and his entire purpose is to protect me from people he might actually sympathize with. 😵

Most terrorist attacks happen because of an inside connection. So, tell me, who do you think is more likely to be that "weak link"—some Englishman or a guy sporting an Iranian flag tattoo?

That whole body scan law 🙏

Which is exactly why things have started going south lately 😂

http://www.dailysquib.co.uk/?c=124&a=2389