It's appalling how much bodily freedom and privacy you guys are willing to give away for "security" that is truly an illusion. None of these procedures will prevent a bomb from getting into the cargo hold. And what if terrorists start hiding bombs up their asses, would you then advocate your children and loved ones receive body cavity searches from rubber-gloved mouth-breathers before they board an air plane? Perhaps everyone should be chained to their seats in-flight, catheterized, and administered a sedative for the duration of the flight...
for your safety. A backscatter scan or pubic hair sniffer won't prevent a terrorist from blowing himself up at the mall this coming Black Friday, or from blowing himself up IN LINE at the airport before he's even screened.
The shoe bomber was not stopped by the TSA. The shoe bomber was stopped by alert and courageous
passengers. The new fortified cockpits and vigilant passengers are the best weapons we have against another 9/11. Everything else, so far, has been window dressing. Terrorists don't even have to attempt to stage another 9/11 style attack, when we waste billions of USD on useless procedures that are more designed to catch contraband and placate law abiding citizens than to prevent a psycho from hijacking the plane.