Random is stupid and senseless. Let's use a little profiling here. If they look like they could be Muslim or Arab, search them. Simple.
Exactly, false positives are devastating to any screening program anywhere. Tests are best used when there is a reason for suspecting s problem. Therefore, one suspects that the real reason for these procedures is not the detection and isolation of terrorists.
Arab, you can tell by looking usually. Muslim, you can't always tell by looking. Remember Johnny Jihad? A haircut and shower and you'd never known he was Muslim.
Mmmmm....not so much. TSA regulations prohibit more than two people of Middle Eastern descent to be in secondary interview areas at any one time (No lie).
If profiling were used, this stupid, moronic, mind-bogglingly idiotic PC rule would need to be overlooked or broken.
Profiling is worthless since it won't catch anyone who may be native to this country while being sympathetic to the terrorists... there have already been some of those and they aren't necessarilly middle-eastern (one was Hispanic). How can you profile a Muslim when they can be of almost any descent?
Unfortunately, there are no easy answers to the problems posed in the article. At the same time, we need thorough screening measures while not having TSA agents resort to rude and/or inefficient means. No matter how thorough the TSA thinks they are now, it's nowhere near impossible to bring a potential weapon on board a plane. Yet more thoroughness often means more rudeness, inefficiency and invasion of privacy. I know many people who refuse to fly anymore because they don't want the hassle. There is no perfect solution.
I travel frequently and I notice that there is a huge lack of consistency with the screening processes. TSA people seem to range from lax to overly zealous; from polite to downright rude and occasionally argumentative. The sensitivity of metal detectors varies from one day to the next; from one airport to the next leaving some to ask if they really need to take off their belts and shoes when the forgotten cigarette lighter in their pocket doesn't set off the alarm. Some X-ray scanners for carry-on's are set too high so that they damage film even though the TSA agent refuses to hand-inspect it for you while assuring you that it will be safe.
I personally know some people who work as TSA agents. Many basically do only what they are instructed to do with little feel or understanding that the job should demand. Many have no background in security or law enforcement and can't discern the difference between a WMD toting psycho or grandma's underwire bra. After all, they're just government employees. Our safety and our privacy is at the mercy of people who are just as competent as postal workers that lose or discard your mail.