Much of the world heaved a collective sigh of relief last week after learning that British authorities had thwarted a terrorist plot to blow up commercial jetliners over the Atlantic.
More or less willingly, passengers waiting to board airplanes threw out bottled water, hand cream and lip gloss on orders of officials trying to guard against bad guys who would make bombs out of liquids.
But, as the dust has settled, it’s clear that the government still is scrambling to determine what’s effective and what is just window dressing imposed in haste.
Regulations imposed Sunday required that passengers get their shoes X-rayed before getting on airplanes. But The Associated Press found that an earlier Homeland Security internal report questioned the effectiveness of that measure in finding explosives that might be hidden in shoes.
The government moved quickly Tuesday to assure the public that X-raying shoes was a valid security measure, but the situation leaves us wondering whether the policy was thoroughly researched.
The AP also reported over the weekend that the Bush administration had tried to divert to other uses $6 million that was supposed to be spent developing explosives detection technology. Congress nixed the plan, and congressional leaders are critical of Homeland Security’s broader research efforts. “They clearly have been given lots of resources that they haven’t been using,” said Rep. Martin Sabo, D-Minn.
While such reports raise some doubts about security planning, what’s not in question is that airports are feeling the strain of heightened security measures. Travelers are heeding calls to get to airports hours early, only to find facilities that aren’t designed to handle such crowds. The new requirement that liquids be put in checked luggage has resulted in baggage-handling systems struggling under a 10-40 percent load increase, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The situation has also given rise to proposals that could affect civil liberties. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has said it’s worth studying British counterterrorism laws that allow the detention of suspects for 28 days without charges. U.S. law generally limits that to 48 hours. Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff also said he hopes foreign governments will drop objections to his department getting passenger lists in advance of flights.
As the Brits have so ably shown, it is good policy to nab would-be terrorists before they even enter an airport terminal. But our government would be wise to be mindful of the implications of their actions as we continue adjusting to a new world of threats.
