Web forum: Body scans

Jan 5 2010 by Andrew Jackson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

QUESTIONS were raised about the effectiveness of full body scanners today amid claims that it is ‘unlikely’ they could detect many of the explosive devices used by Al Qaida.

The controversial technology is expected to be introduced at Heathrow and other hubs within weeks after Prime Minister Gordon Brown said it was ‘essential’ to tackle a new terrorist threat.

They will initially operate alongside metal detectors, and be used for all flights in and out of Britain.

Mr Brown said a decision had been made that the scanners – which cost about £100,000 each – would be deployed across British airports.

He insisted the inconvenience to travellers would be kept to a minimum.

OverTheGardenWall wondered: “It will be interesting to see how long it will take certain groups to protest at the new scanners that show a full body image as it is not unknown in the past for men masquerading as women to have fled the country.

“How long before the protests against being scanned on human rights or religious grounds start, I wonder?”

bernie raged: “The fact is that at the airports everyone is treated as a potential terrorist instead of profiling potential suicide bombers. The picture of the 6-year-old boy undergoing screening at a Dutch airport just about sums the ‘wet’ attitude approach seen in Europe nowadays.

Dismayed_of_Dalton explained: “It’s very simple: if you want to fly then you have to go through these security checks, if you object to these checks then find another mode of transport. It is not your human right to fly!”

StephB mischievously quipped: “How right DoD! One could think up at least a couple more:

“If you want to drive in an urban area, stick to the speed limit. It is not your ‘human right’ to disobey the law with impunity!

“If you want to go to the Middle East, don’t expect to get away with being found drunk (or doing a lot of other things!) in public.

“If you want to drive like a fool in the snow, expect to ‘come unstuck’!”