SILLY SEASON FOR INEFFECTIVE ANTI-TERRORISM MEASURES

Now that the underwear bomb has been exposed, Homeland Security is putting in some draconian anti-terrorism measures to protect the flying public.

Starting an hour before their scheduled landing in the U.S., passengers on incoming international flights will no longer be allowed to leave their seats, piss-call notwithstanding. They will not be allowed to have a blanket, pillow, book or any other object in their laps. All carry-on items must be stored in the overhead compartments. Nothing can be placed underneath the seats. The in-flight maps showing the real-time location of an airliner will no longer be screened.

The silly season is upon us. Does Homeland Security really believe that a bomber is going to blow up a plane only during the last hour of its flight? God save us, not from the terrorists, but from the government idiots responsible for our safety.

On the ground, those waiting to board an airliner are being exposed to long delays while airport security screeners increase the scope of passenger searches and searches of their belongings. That means all those in line, including 80-year-old grandmas and young children, are being treated as if they might be airline hijackers and suicide bombers.

Anti-terrorism experts agree that all those measures are silly and ineffective. Those experts tell us that all of the airline hijackers and bombers have been MALE, MUSLIM and JIHADIST. This means that 99 percent of the flying public is being subjected to unnecessary anti-terrorism measures.

Anti-terrorism experts also agree that the most effective protection against airline hijackers and bombers is PASSENGER PROFILING.

Every Jihadist in the world dreams of blowing up an Israeli El Al airliner, yet not one El Al plane has ever been brought down by a terrorist. How come? The Israelis rely on passenger profiling and they run extensive background checks on every passenger from the time they buy their tickets until the time they board their plane. Passenger profiling would have led the Israelis to prevent anyone who purchased a one-way ticket, paid for it in cash, and had little or no baggage from ever boarding a plane.

But passenger profiling is akin to racial profiling and therefore POLITICALLY INCORRECT in our country. So, in order not to hurt the feelings of people who look like they may be of Middle Eastern origin or who are Muslims, political correctness is subjecting 99 percent of the flying public to silly and ineffective anti-terrorism measures. That's why New York Times columnist David Brooks characterized airport security screening as “a jobs program,” not a security program.