The Airport Scanner Scam
Editor's Note: For a different take on body scanners, check out Kevin Drum's post on the subject.
Scan, baby, scan. That’s the mantra among politicians at all levels in the wake of the thwarted terrorist attack aboard a Detroit-bound passenger jet. According to conventional wisdom, the would-be “underwear bomber” could have been stopped by airport security if he’d been put through a full-body scanner, which would have revealed the cache of explosives attached to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s groin.
Within days or even hours of the bombing attempt, everyone was talking about so-called whole-body imaging as the magic bullet that could stop this type of attack. In announcing hearings by the Senate Homeland Security Commitee, Joe Lieberman approached the use of scanners as a foregone conclusion, saying one of the "big, urgent questions that we are holding this hearing to answer" was "Why isn’t whole-body-scanning technology that can detect explosives in wider use?" Former Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff told the Washington Post, "You’ve got to find some way of detecting things in parts of the body that aren’t easy to get at. It’s either pat downs or imaging, or otherwise hoping that bad guys haven’t figured it out, and I guess bad guys have figured it out."
Since the alternative is being groped by airport screeners, the scanners might sound pretty good. The Transportation Security Administration has claimed that the images "are friendly enough to post in a preschool," though the pictures themselves tell another story, and numerous organizations have opposed them as a gross invasion of privacy. Beyond privacy issues, however, are questions about whether these machines really work—and about who stands to benefit most from their use.
As I documented in my book The Five Unanswered Questions About 9/11, airport security has always been compromised by corporate interests.When it comes to high-tech screening methods, the TSA has a dismal record of enriching private corporations with failed technologies, and there are signs that the latest miracle device may just bring more of the same.
Known by their opponents as "digital strip search" machines, the full-body scanners use one of two technologies—millimeter wave sensors or backscatter x-rays—to see through clothing, producing ghostly images of naked passengers. Yet critics say that these, too, are highly fallible, and are incapable of revealing explosives hidden in body cavities—an age-old method for smuggling contraband. If that’s the case, a terrorist could hide the entire bomb works within his or her body, and breeze through the virtual strip search undetected. Yesterday, the London Independent reported on "authoritative claims that officials at the [UK] Department for Transport and the Home Office have already tested the scanners and were not persuaded that they would work comprehensively against terrorist threats to aviation." A British defense-research firm reportedly found the machines unreliable in detecting "low-density" materials like plastics, chemicals, and liquids—precisely what the underwear bomber had stuffed in his briefs.
Yet the rush toward full-body scans already seems unstoppable. They were mandated today as part of the "enhanced" screening for travelers from selected countries, and hundreds of the machines are already on order, at a cost of about $150,000 apiece. Within days of the bombing attempt, Reuters was reporting that the "greater U.S. government shift toward using the high-tech devices could create a boom for makers of security imaging products, and it has already created a speculative spike in share prices in some companies."
Which brings us to the money shot. The body scanner is sure to get a go-ahead because of the illustrious personages hawking them. Chief among them is former DHS secretary Michael Chertoff, who now heads the Chertoff Group, which represents one of the leading manufacturers of whole-body-imaging machines, Rapiscan Systems. For days after the attack, Chertoff made the rounds on the media promoting the scanners, calling the bombing attempt "a very vivid lesson in the value of that machinery"—all without disclosing his relationship to Rapiscan. According to the Washington Post:
Chertoff’s advocacy for the technology dates back to his time in the Bush administration. In 2005, Homeland Security ordered the government’s first batch of the scanners—five from California-based Rapiscan Systems.
Today, 40 body scanners are in use at 19 U.S. airports. The number is expected to skyrocket at least in part because of the Christmas Day incident. The Transportation Security Administration this week said it will order 300 more machines.
In the summer, TSA purchased 150 machines from Rapiscan with $25 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.
The Washington Examiner last week ran down an entire list of all the former Washington politicians and staff members who are now part of what it calls the "full-body scanner lobby":
One manufacturer, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, is American Science & Engineering, Inc. AS&E has retained the K Street firm Wexler & Walker to lobby for "federal deployment of security technology by DHS and DOD." Individual lobbyists on this account include former TSA deputy administration Tom Blank, who also worked under House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Chad Wolf—former assistant administrator for policy at TSA, and a former aide to Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Tex., a top Senate appropriator and the ranking Republican on the transportation committee—is also lobbying on AS&E’s behalf.
Smiths Detection, another screening manufacturer, employs top transportation lobbying firm Van Scoyoc Associates, including Kevin Patrick Kelly, a former top staffer to Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., who sits on the Homeland Security Appropriations subcommittee. Smiths also retains former congresswoman Helen Delich Bentley, R-Md.
Former Sen. Al D’Amato, R-N.Y., represents L3 Systems, about which Bloomberg wrote today: "L-3 has ‘developed a more sophisticated system that could prevent smuggling of almost anything on the body,’ said Howard Rubel, an analyst at Jefferies & Co., who has a ‘hold’ rating on the stock."
In forecasting the fate of the full-body scanners, we can turn to recent history, which saw the rapid rise—and decline—of the previous "miracle" screening technology. In the years following 9/11, dozens of explosive trace portals (ETPs) were installed in airports across the country, at a cost of about $160,000 each. These "puffer" machines—so called because they blow air on passengers to dislodge explosive particles—were once celebrated as the "no-touch pat down." But in a Denver test by CBS in 2007, a network employee was sprayed with explosives and then walked through the airport’s three puffers without any trouble. The machines also set off false alarms, and they frequently broke down, leading to sky-high maintenance costs.
After spending more than $30 million on the puffer machines—most of them purchased from GE—the TSA announced earlier this year that it was suspending their use. Only about 25 percent of the machines were ever even deployed at US airports. A report last month from the Government Accountability Office found that the TSA had not adequately tested the puffers before buying them.
What will happen if the full-body scanner goes the way of the puffer? Well, there’s always the next generation of security equipment: the Body Orifice Security Scanner, or BOSS chair. This contraption, which has an uncomfortable resemblance to an electric chair, is used in prisons, mostly in the UK, for tracing cell phones, shivs, and other dangerous contraband that’s been swallowed or inserted into body cavities by inmates. So far, it only detects metal, but you never know.
Give me a friendly German Shepherd any day.
Comments
Interesting. Depressing.
Interesting. Depressing. Just yesterday I read a very similar piece in the Guardian (I think) saying Gordon Brown had his head wedged if he thought the scanners would do anything real.
(Is there anyway to link the Detroit Bomber to Chertoff's company?)
There is a great live discussion on this at www.whydoyoufearme.com
and a great book called Tea With Hezbollah on Amazon.
Scanners
And nobody is talking about the DUH! Radiation exposure! Hello?
Yes. I also have yet to see
Yes. I also have yet to see an article discussing the effects of using X-ray scanners on the body. This is the main reason why I would refuse to go through the scanner, instead opting for a 'pat down.'
Radiation Risk
It's not gamma radiation, as what would be used in an x ray. It's more likely beta, which bounces off of clothing and such, a miniscule amount of exposure. You would be more at risk from the radiation recieved in a tanning bed.
Personally, I vote for more sniffer dogs. Effective, cheap, reliable, green.
They will catch explosives (like the ones attempted by the young man over Detroit) at about 100 paces.
Scanners in Airports
I agree bring back the dogs, they are loyal, accurate, and aim to please, all at a low cost, and they last for years!!
Scanners
And the dogs might also detect the explosives in body cavities. No scanner would.
Gamma is not used in x-rays and beta is not xray
Gamma radiation and x-ray radiation are two different types of radiation. If they say it uses x-rays, then it uses x-rays, plain and simple. At that point you are just dealing with varying intensities.
Beta will not be used in an x-ray emitting machine, as beta particles are actually free electrons, not wave radiation such as x-ray and gamma radiation. Furthermore, the danger in beta radiation is that as they are stopped within a few layers of skin, they deposit energy. If their energy is high enough and there are enough of them, there is a risk of mutation at the cellular level, which could lead to cancer. That being said, we are all exposed to gamma and beta radiation regularly, just at low enough doses that there is no harm.
The preferred airport scanner
The preferred airport scanner is indeed a backscatter x-ray scanner which does deliver ionizing radiation to the whole body. Some airports use millimeter wave, but my understanding is that x-rays provide a sharper image, so that is what is being pushed for.
Uh, not true at all. The
Uh, not true at all. The machines that use back-scatter x-rays are just that, x-ray scanners (and these are the one that have been deployed in the US). True, it is a very small amount of radiation, but it is ionizing radiation nonetheless.
I just want to point out that
I just want to point out that x-rays and gamma rays are pretty much the same thing. They are both high frequency, short wavelength ionizing radiation. The name difference is due to the source of the radiation, not its energy and potential damaging effects.
yeah this could work...
dogs won't be all invasive. they'll just bark at the idiot trying to smuggle some IEDs, guns, hazzardous chemicals, etc. onto the plane and start searching for the next idiot. however, 3 flaws in the dogs protecting airport plan:
1. everyone and thing needs to relieve themselves everyonce in a while (where do the dogs go to relieve themselves allong with their companions)
2. dog allergies? not as common as cat allergies, but still out there.
3. airports have food EVERYWHERE which might distract the dogs or their noses
other than that, the dogs in airport plan is pretty good. less expensive... saves puppies from the pound... shows how people are assertively taking care of their country and that they actually give a care about security, as opposed to the bulky machines that sit there and give frequent fliers cancer... yeah this could work...
The only way around all this
The only way around all this High Tech/High Cost/Pad Someones Pockets searches is the tried and true strip and body cavity search o each and every airline passenger. Hey, and it's a "green" search in that it leaves no carbon footprint.
Body scanners
Seems to me that the scanners have already been demonstrated as less than effective and thus, the purchase of any is only a way to line pockets with taxpayer money. Maybe these companies could show their patriotism by donating their product for testing.
Better still - dogs would be better suited.
All of these people up in
All of these people up in arms about security checkpoints at airports BEFORE getting on the plane.
What if some terrorist chose to detonate his explosive BEFORE getting on the plane while in line?? Are there not enough people there to hit?
... not to mention, all of this over a would-be bomber who couldn't get his panties to explode? ...in plane sight of other passengers, even?!
Why didn't this prick find his way to the lavatory like someone with a brain?
We should believe that terrorists can plot a 9/11 but not be smart enough to detonate their underwear out of sight of others?!?
C'mon guys, all this security panic is REALLY STUPID.
The airport scanner
It's all about fear to make money 4 the Corps.
Everybody is talking about what happened,but nobody is talking about how
it happened ! Where's the airline for this ? Did any body know that the called bomber was allowed on the plane WITHOUT A PASSPORT ?
Did you know that the airline allowed the bomber to get on the plane
with the help from someone who also was on the plane & video taped
the whole operation before,during & after the arrest took place ?
The patriot Act is about to expire soon,Security business & war on TERROR !
I don't want to fly anymore.
I don't want to fly anymore. Not out of fear of terrorists, but from the crap I have to deal with at the terminals at the hands of glorified DMV employees. Drug runners are scared of dogs for a reason. But since dogs don't have a lobby.... Vote them all out.
This has NOTHING to do with
This has NOTHING to do with "fighting terrorism". These scanners are in fact TERRORISM! REJECT THEM! BOYCOTT!
P.S. Anyone who still believes the "official" account of 9/11 is naive and lost.
Considering that the security
Considering that the security at the X-Mas bomber's airport which let him bypass protocols without a passport was an Israeli company makes you go hmmmm.... and then consider that all the 9/11 hijackers boarded planes via the SAME Israeli company's checkpoints ....... and now we have 24/7 Israeli parrots championing the merits of an Israeli company's scanner products .... again makes you go hmmmm ............... kind of funny how everything always points back to Israel. And consider the Mossad's motto .... Do war by way of deception .... the only conclusion to be reached is Israel IS AL Quaeda and most likely behind the largest set of treasonous moles to ever set foot on US soil.
So, I guess you won't be in
So, I guess you won't be in Temple on Friday night?
Really, Anonymous? Really?
Really, Anonymous? Really? The ONLY conclusion is Israel IS Al Quaeda?
The only conclusion is that you have a predetermined notion and you will fashion any ridiculous argument to make it so...and I would tend to agree with your notion that Israel is not only our military proxy in the region, but a giant, ersatz money laundering operation for the Military Industrial Complex as well as a proxy Intelligence Agency for the Fascists. But I can't prove it. It just feels right when I say it. Therefore I cannot concluded anything and in that vein, neither can you.
The scanner craze is merely a response to a crisis and that is what we do. There are opportunistic, parasitic corporations out there that ply their wares dutifully to the government, then when something like this happens they turn to PR experts to get them on the Sunday Talk Shows and lobbying firms to get them before Senators who will do their bidding for cash (Lieberman). The Washington system is a conspiracy, but not the one you think.
Ummmm-hmmm...
Your tinfoil hat needs adjuusting.
Your case of denial and
Your case of denial and cognitive dissonance needs adjusting. You are living in the dark.
Are you fucking kidding me?
Are you fucking kidding me? Chertoff is able to be in this position, Jesus Christ I thought my friends were crazy but this country really is fucked isn't it? Thank God I know how to fend for myself and have clean drinking water.
Since the swine flu scare
Since the swine flu scare turned out to be a total flop, now the next scare are the full body scanners.
Coming to an airport near you....
After the attempt to blow up
After the attempt to blow up planes using explosives made from fluids, fluids were forbidden. As a "response" to the shoe-bomber's failed attempt at setting off an explosive hidden in his shoe, the "measure" was taken to have people remove their shoes, which prompted my wife to remark "glad there was no bra-bomber...".
Now we had the guy with the explosives in his underwear, so I would expect - applying the same "logic" - wearing underwear to be strictly taboo when flying.
Of course this lame analogy only goes to show that none of the previous "measures" were serious attempts at improving the safety. The wholy privatized 'War on Terror' is a goldmine, the perfect 'excuse' to syphon off ever larger amounts of taxpayer money straight into the hands of the corporate subcontractors that run (almost) everything nowadays.
What sector of society or government is NOT run by corporations? I really don't know the answer. The IRS?
no way on Earth do I ever
no way on Earth do I ever have to prove my Innocence as I am English and as such "Presumed" to be Innocent until proven otherwise in a Court of Law, END OF STORY!
NO SCANNER FOR ME EVER!
what on Earth is that Savage
what on Earth is that Savage Monkey Writing above?
Scanners are potentially dangerous and not needed
I sent a blistering letter to my Senator pointing out that it was the employees of a foreign company that failed to provide security NOT THE AMERICAN PUBLIC. I am tired of having my privacy, health and mental state impinged upon by stupid stuff like this. Every time that one of these false flag operations goes off, they want to investigate us--the citizens. After reading billions of emails and listening in to everybody's phone calls for decades now, they could not prevent a NIGERIAN BOMBER FROM GETTING ON A FLIGHT TO DETROIT BECAUSE AN ISRAELI COMPANY FAILED TO FOLLOW PROCEDURE. How exactly does scanning Americans with devices that could be hazardous to their health do anything to prevent this?
The answer is that they don't. This is another population reduction scheme. The population that needs to be reduced is the number of fatheads in Washington and their over-rich patrons.
A much better idea
Why don't we, instead of escalating security at the airports, get rid of airport security all together. I propose that on the planes the passengers should be responsible for their own security and maybe hold some sort "lord of the flies" type trial while onboard. The cost of flying would go way down and the airlines would also save on in flight entertainment.
Hey maybe Chertoff can
Hey maybe Chertoff can convince congress to buy dis scanning machine idea. Here's what he does. Sells millions of these things to be put on the border with signs that say "Please enter the country but do us a favor and walk through the scanner" in either arabic or mexican talk. What's the stock symbol for dis ting. Gonna make a bundle.
body scanners
ummm....unaccompanied minor children subjected to body scanners. my understanding is that, if they are uncomfortable with this, their only alternative is to be strip-searched. Question - brother aged 9 and sister aged 12 are about to be strip-searched. Will female TSA search the girl and male search the boy, or for the sake of acountability in a sensitive setting, will there be several TSA employees conducting the strip searches. And will the chikldren be stripped together or separately? As a former airline employee, this is not a prurient question.
RIP America
Re: "March Of The Titans"
Most importantly of all, revealed in this work is the one true cause of the rise and fall of the world's greatest empires - that all civilizations rise and fall according to their racial homogeneity and nothing else - a nation can survive wars, defeats, natural catastrophes, but not racial dissolution.
How far do we go with all this?
Okay, so a guy tries to blow up his underpants, and we're now supposed to spend massive amounts of money and endure outrageous personal invasions based on the rather questionable argument that these machines will actually accomplish something. Fine.
Now, leaving aside the fact that regardless of the technology we employ, a determined terrorist will simply adopt another method that skirts that technology, what happens when, say, a terrorist bombs a sporting event, or a movie theatre, or a concert hall, or a supermarket or department store with a similar method? Are we then going to introduce these virtual strip search machines into every one of those venues?
The insane mass hysteria over this incident is just that: insane. And it accomplishes not a single thing except to play directly into the terrorists' hands. When did we become a nation of such cowards that we can no longer accept that to live in the world is to face risk, and that while we can take reasonable steps to moderate some risks, we cannot eliminate every risk.
Look, if someone or some group is determined enough, they will find a way to use terror. And if we allow ourselves this kind of collective panic every time something happens, it won't be long before we've ceded ALL of our civil liberties. At that point, the terrorists will have won.
>>The insane mass hysteria
>>The insane mass hysteria over this incident is just that: insane. And it accomplishes not a single thing except to play directly into the terrorists' hands.<<
Makes you wonder who the "terrorists" are and why they are terrorizing us. If giving up our liberty plays into terrorists hands, then the terrorists gain from the surrender of said liberties. That beneficiary will not be a guy in the mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan, or a kid in Yemen. The benefit those folks are trying to achieve is the removal of murderous, imperial troops which occupy lands where the relatives of these folks reside.
Examine the liberties you are being asked to surrender - the very liberties that were spelled out at the birth of this nation to avoid over reaching government/corporate power. Freedom from unwarranted searches and seizure is what we are being asked to sacrifice here. What we sacrificed for the eight years prior to the 2008 election was the freedom of speech. Therefore, we gave up our ability to speak up as aggrieved citizens. And it was all predicated on terror which was in large part fomented by the Bush Administration.
The terrorists win, indeed.
The Terrorists Have Won
The terrorists have won, they are now working hand in hand with the republicans to destabilize the US government so Geroge Bush the IIIrd can assume the throne. Everyone knows how effective the Bushes were in thwarting terrorism. 911 happend on Clinton's watch!
You need to realize the the
You need to realize the the false left/right paradigm is a hoax. At the highest levels, the Republican and Democrats are all working for the same interests. You have been duped.
911 happened on Clinton's watch???
I guess it's just coincidence that Bush's brother had the maintenance contract for the Boston airport and the Trade center buildings. I guess it's not important that Bush and Cheney wanted an excuse to invade Iraq. Give it a rest. Now we have the Patriot act, Homeland security and body scans and Bush's buddies are getting richer. Just follow the money, it's not rocket science.
President Kennedy first
President Kennedy first acknowledged that anyone willing to die could take out any target.
Strip search scanning machines
this was another false flag and the sheeple will allow themselves to be strip searched.
Why don't they fire the morons like Napolitano & Mineta who let this slide?
Another Lie
Ah people, you do realize the whole thing was a prefabricated setup. You know Al CIAdah is as real as the Easter Bunny.
This is a setup to justify an attack of Yemen. The sucker patsy is the son of a billionaire banker, the people in Yemen are in the middle of a rebellion against the bankers, something apathetic America should take notice of. The father also has close ties with the Israeli military industrial complex. Do you see a pattern yet.
Yes the security was run by ICTS an Israeli company run by a convicted felon Menachom Atzmon and staffed by ex Israeli military, El Al and intelligence personnel.
It is time to grow up and see the greater picture. Time to see finally who the real terrorists are. Who is really benefitting over this comic charade.
People like puppet Obama and his handlers are laughing all the way to the world of hell they have prepared for us.
Yemen - good article
For an excellent article on Yemen, and why the jewish-run US Government is playing it up big...see this article.
Yemen: Behind Al-Qaeda Scenarios, a
Geopolitical Oil Chokepoint to Eurasia
author of Full Spectrum Dominance: Totalitarian Democracy in the New World Order
by F. William Engdahl
January 5, 2010
Do you think it's true that
Do you think it's true that umar tried to bomb the plain?! I don't think so.
Why he didn't do it over the ocean and waited till 15min before the plain land?!
Was he sleeping the entire journey or heating himself with the explosives?!
How get the visa?!
His father is ex minister and informs the us government about his son that he's going in fundamentalist way, but the us government didn’t bother about it.
US and Al qaeda all are playing with our minds!
This might answer your
This might answer your question:
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/12/flight_253_passenger...
Flight 253 passenger: Sharp-dressed man aided terror suspect
Flight 253 passenger: Sharp-dressed man aided terror suspect Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab onto plane without passport (MLive.com exclusive)
By Sheena Harrison | MLive.com
December 26, 2009, 2:22PM
"A Michigan man who was aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 says he witnessed Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab trying to board the plane in Amsterdam without a passport."
"Haskell said he and his wife were sitting on the ground near their boarding gate in Amsterdam, which is when they saw Mutallab approach the gate with an unidentified man."
Link: http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/12/flight_253_passenger...
This was a flag flag attack, staged by western intelligence. Now comes the full body scanners. What other aggressions against our rights will the American people stand for? This has NOTHING to do with "fighting terrorism". It is time to wake up people, before it is too late.
Christmas Day Underwear Bomb a Rogue CIA Terrorist Incident
What about all the pedophiles
What about all the pedophiles and preverts that will line up for a chance to see everyone basically naked? Do you want some goon checking you out? What about the right to privacy? I say let the airlines figure out what they want to do and get the government out of this business all together! I fell very safe in any casino, and their security is PRIVATELY owned! A private business, such as an airline will not waste money on unproven techniques like a lobbyists trying to line his buddies pockets with taxpayers money will!
Seriously?
Gotta watch them "preverts".
Scanners
This is disgusting. Assume there is a woman who has a tampon - sorry, but I just had to bring this up. What are they going to do a private search after they see something below the waste...????!!!!
And think about little kids too....
It is truly sick....
Good point, or a pad that has
Good point, or a pad that has to be inspected or samples to be sent to a lab for possible bioterrorism.
Sorry if it sounds crude, but is a natural physiological event that indicates everything is working properly. .
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