Israeli Security Expert Decries Body Scanners Before Canadian Parliament

The Vancouver Sun has reported that an Israeli security expert who assisted in the design of the security system at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion International Airport suggested in parliamentary hearings that the deployment of body scanners is a “useless” waste of money.

“I don't know why everybody is running to buy these expensive and useless machines. I can overcome the body scanners with enough explosives to bring down a Boeing 747,” he is quoted as saying, “That's why we haven't put them in our airport.”

According to the story, a Canadian transport minister has defended the installation of body scanners at Canadian airports. Political scientist Mark Salter also reportedly testified that he viewed body scanners as a “genuine leap forward” in airline security. (Hat tip to unwatched.org)

News: Aiport Security Technology

Forbes has posted an interesting article today discussing various proposals for improving airport security, including behavioral analysis systems, physiological sensors, and increased use of profiling. One system being tested in Israel even sounds like psychological warfare—flashing images onto airport screens, “such as symbols associated with a certain terrorist group or some other image only a would-be terrorist would recognize” and then assessing individuals’ reactions to those images. The article also cites Jim Harper of the Cato Institute for suggesting that security be placed in the hands of the airlines in order to introduce more variation in security procedures.