PASSENGERS REBELLING AGAINST AIRPORT SECURITY MEASURES

By Jim Kouri, CPP
January 4, 2011
NewsWithViews.com

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and the rest of President Barack Obama's cabinet are either evasive or silent about their latest public relations fiasco: invasive security measures at U.S. airports.

It appears that in an effort to protect traveling Americans, while at the same time adhering to the liberal-left orthodoxy, on domestic and international commercial airline flights, new state-of-the-art body-scanners are now in use at airports throughout the nation. These admittedly intrusive devices leave nothing to the imagination when a man or woman is scanned, and should travelers resent being subjected to a full-body scan, they may opt to be "manually" frisked by airport security officers.

While Americans are being told that these measures are in place to protect them, Muslims -- both citizens and immigrants -- are demanding to be exempt from such security procedures.

"This is being done in recognizing that we all have a collective role in our security and we all know and can recognize that there are threats and risks that have been articulated by those who seek to harm the United States, particularly in the aviation environment. And, so, you know, what we are doing is designed to really be risk based, to be intelligence based, to be layered like I said, when you get to the airport at that screening center, these TSOs (Transportation Security Officers) are really the last line of protection we have for the aircraft and that's the way we're going to evaluate things," said Secretary Napolitano in a news conference on Tuesday.

According to conservative talk host and former attorney Laura Ingraham, when Napolitano was asked by a reporter if Muslim women wearing burqas or hijabs refuse to undergo scanning or frisking, what will Transportation Security Administration personnel do, Napolitano didn't answer, preferring to continue her scripted dialogue on the list of items not permitted on commercial flights such as powders and gels.

When pressed for an answer about Muslims wearing hijabs being scanned or frisked, Napolitano stated simply that "there is will be more to come" from the Homeland Security Department and the TSA.

The issue of the invasion of privacy created by the newly enhanced procedures has been raging for the last few days. Yet, President Barack Obama continues his silence on the issue.

During the Thanksgiving holiday -- the biggest air travel time of the year -- many Americans claim they will protest these security measures and purposely cause delays.

THE GENESIS OF AIRPORT "GROPING"

President Obama had ordered Napolitano to conduct security reviews following the attempted terrorist attack on December 25, 2009, including recommendations from the intelligence and security communities.

“The attempted attack on Christmas Day is a powerful illustration that terrorists will go to great lengths to try to defeat the security measures that have been put in place since Sept. 11, 2001,â€