SHOOT: Ummmm...your country happens to be a very relevant clue as to who you are and what you are about. To pretend otherwise is to be...well...dumb. My concern is that security will be taken too far eventually. On the other side of terrorism we could see fascism.
At the same time, Schiphol airport, from which Mr Abdulmutallab’s flight departed, is stepping up its security measures. It will introduce full-body scans for passengers travelling to America. Schiphol's 15 scanners, which are currently used on a voluntary basis by passengers flying within Europe, will be adjusted so that their images can be analysed by computers rather than people. This should allay the European Commission’s concerns that the sensitive nature of the scanners' images may infringe passengers' privacy. And Britain’s prime minister, Gordon Brown, announced at the weekend that full-body scanners would be gradually brought into the country's airports, with transfer passengers subject to checks as well.
As far as the privacy argument goes, libertarians seem to be pursuing a losing cause. Few ethical qualms stand up to the great god security, and ethical expectations will have to adjust to reflect the new reality. |
clipped from www.economist.com
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