Security Theater

I'm standing in a line. People in front of me pull off their jewelry, drop their belts, unlace their shoes.

I'm waiting for the security check at LAX airport. Thinking how I'm not in the mood to undress myself in front of this TSA dude (TSA=Transportation Security Administration). Then a guy in his late thirties and trendy pink turban walks through the detector. Beep. The TSA guy gives him instructions. Guy with turban doesn't understand. The TSA guy repeats. Still communication is one-way. The TSA guy yells. I can't understand what he wants. But he yells again. And again. Finally TSA guy gets whatever detail he wanted and lets him pass. Other TSA people laugh, cheer. They seem entertained.

What a sad theater: Because the knife I carried unbenownst in my backpack for at least five transatlantic flights was never detected. Several people told me the same thing happened to them. According to security expert Bruce Schneier the fact that we have to go through this at almost all U.S. airports now only takes away from the real threats. The only improvements since 9/11 are: Fortified cockpit-doors and the fact that passengers now know that they have to resist against terrorists.

A very important part in our research for our documentary THE THAW OF WAR goes into this false sense of security. And something else even more important:

If we let go of our freedoms and civil rights, the terrorists win even when they get caught before they hit. Or in reverse: If we don't let ourselves terrorize, the terrorists loose even when they hit.

check out Bruce Schneier's BLOG AT: http://www.schneier.com/