The battle between terrorists and those responsible for keeping air passengers safe has moved into a new era. The amount of explosives needed to bring down a passenger jet decreases and human ingenuity ups the ante when it comes to concealment.
The Nigerian passenger who attempted jihad on Christmas morning had concealed the explosives by having it sewn into the crotch of his underpants. The aim was to take advantage of natural modesty. That was the one place a pat down search would not linger.
It is now likely that terrorists will take that one step further. Just as drug smugglers try to get their narcotics through customs by concealing it within their bodies, terrorists can be expected to try concealing explosives within their bodily cavities.
The only way to be totally secure that no explosives are being carried aboard aircraft is for every passenger to be subjected to a scan by a backscatter X-ray machine.
These machines see through clothing and actually detect any foreign matter concealed within the human body. The only disadvantage is modesty. The subject is electronically stripped naked by the search conducted by this machine.
That is a small price to pay for being certain that you will survive the flight.
This is the twenty-first century and we are used to going near naked on the beach. Obviously the sexes should pass through different machines, and the machine operators would be of the same gender as the passenger - in which case the inspection would be little different from a strip search conducted by security now when suspicions are aroused.
Those that object would have an obvious decision. Submit in the interests of the safety of others - or choose another means of transport !
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