Airline Security: We Can Do Better than the Israelis

Written By: George Donnelly  |  Posted: Thursday, July 7th, 2011

            Everybody wants alternatives to the TSA security theater. Think back to the 2003 California recall election. The recallers didn't pick up steam until Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his intention to terminate Gray Davis as governor. Similarly, people are looking for a security theater replacement before kicking TSA to the curb. This is a good sign. The debate has moved on. People know the TSA is broken. What are we going to replace it with?

            The answer is not as simple as replacing oil with solar power or Coca-Cola with Coke Zero. The federal government's TSA is broken by design. It is Goliath to Al-Qaeda's David. It is the US Army to Al-Qaeda's Viet Cong. A top-down, lumbering bureaucracy will never be a match for the agile, peer-to-peer Al-Qaeda, if you think they are the threat. Various solutions should come forth from those closest to the business. Passengers must have choice in order for the best security to rise to the top. The TSA offers a one-size-fits-all mentality. The decision-makers have exempted themselves from their own security theater. That's un-American.

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