Posted on 01/16/2010 5:36:01 AM PST by IbJensen
"Let's do things the way the Israelis do." That's the latest buzzword in airline security. It's nice to hear the Israelis being praised for something, but if we don't understand what the Israelis do, we're just going to be adding another layer of bureaucracy to an already overloaded system
CNN spent an hour interviewing Isaac Yeffet, former head of El Al security, for example, and all it came away with is that the Israelis interview everyone on line while they're waiting to go through security, that the security personnel speak at least two languages, and that the system costs a lot of money. (Hey, let's order up a lot of Rosetta Stones!) According to the Wall Street Journal, "the secret to [the Israelis'] successful airport security is not labor-intensive checkpoints, but a screening system that is frowned upon in many other countries: ethnic profiling."
Can't you just see the ACLU licking its chops at that one? Many people think it was the undisclosed settlement won by the "six flying Imams" against US Airways last October for being "racially profiled" for their erratic behavior at Minneapolis Airport that set the stage for the Christmas bomber incident.
But the Israeli security system is not based on dual language skills or racial and ethnic profiling. The heart of the Israeli strategy is the idea that the most sophisticated scanner in the world is an intelligent, alert human being and that the most important terrorist behavior database is the shared assumptions, memories and life learning we call "common sense." It revolves around a simple principle that no one in the Homeland Security Department does not yet seem capable of grasping: "Look at people, not things."
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
Generally, due to a knee replacement and a steel rod and wires in my right arm I can expect to be whisked off to a special inspection area. Presenting the physician's documentation is a waste of time as they are apparently unable to read.
I wait 10-20 minutes for the wand and the pat-down search and have always endured extreme discourteous behavior on the part of these overweight, block-headed TSA goons.
Trying to get a TSA agent to speak a second language when you can’t even understand their first language is a whole other ball game.
All I see when traveling is these slobs talking about last nights TV show, football, basketball game etc.
5 aisles and only 1 open with 7 people standing around playing switch.
The only groups of people in the USA that could pull off Israeli-style airport security successfully would be either members of the US military or federal, state or local police officers. These people generally care about this country more than anyone who “works” for the TSA.
I rant about this all the time on this forum, but I recognize some problems in implementing ‘the Israeli way’.
What percentage of TSA employees do you trust to have enough smarts and interest (focus) to do this job right?
The TSA seems to have become a typical government program for underachieving Democrats who want on the government payroll.
The more I think about it, the less optimistic I am that we’ll ever see something like “the Israeli method” of airport screening.
First off, I don’t know that it would be possible, given the sheer volume of US airline travelers. At least 1/2 of flyer would need to be interviewed by at least 2 people, and any discrepancies investigated. One reason that Israel can do this is that the volume of travelers is tiny, in comparison to that of the US.
And it would take very intelligent people who are highly trained, something in short supply at the TSA.
Here in India, security seems a little stricter.
Yet I have often been given back spare camera batteries, a small bottle of water and even a small pair of scissors that I had forgotten to put in the check-in bags.
Usually, after I thank the security guy (Para-military) I ask him why he had allowed me to take them on-board.
He said they invariably check a persons body language (demeanour, eyes etc). they can usually spot a potential problem before the frisking. He said the thorough pat-downs are a secondary act. They catch quite a few smugglers this way.
We were treated very kindly and weren't searched.
The TSA, ATF, and various other wastes should be eliminated and those responsibilities placed under the FBI.
That’s the same FBI that ignored the warning about the guy taking flying lessons in order to join the 911 terrorists, right?
Only after a lot more blood is spilled.
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