There was security for the Manchester event. A woman complained to the Security officers that no packages or backpacks were being checked. Only tickets were being checked. They blew her off ... before the big blow.
The same thing happens here in the US. On two occasions at the busy Atlanta airport I have been directed into a line that led directly into the secure area. Nobody checked my ID or boarding pass. No metal detectors, nothing.
On another occasion in Atlanta a Middle Eastern looking man appeared impatient with the long, slow line. He jumped ahead, bypassing the TSA agent who was checking IDs and boarding passes. Myself and others called this to the attention of TSA agents who were standing around chit-chatting. They blew us off and were not the slightest concerned with the guy of unknown identity who went straight to and thru the metal detector.
At Chicago’s O’Hare in the baggage claim area teenagers of Middle Eastern appearance were “just in horseplay”. They would run from the public baggage claim area back through the doors to the secure area and run all over who knows where in the secure area, and come out at another baggage claim area of a different airline a couple hundred feet away and about 10 minutes later ... while I stand there watching the whole thing.
The TSA is constantly tested and graded by officials and repeatedly fails the checks.
That we don’t have more tragedies is a testament to the fact that 99.9% of Muslims, and the rest of us, are not terrorists.