Can Imaging Technologies Save Us From Terrorists?

itwbennett writes "In the aftermath of the failed Christmas Day terrorist attack, full body scanning technologies such as millimeter wave and backscatter are regaining popularity, writes blogger Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols in a recent post. But, he asks, do they really work? The TSA seems to think so. It has just issued a contract to purchase more millimeter wave scanners from L3 Communications. Michael Chertoff, the former homeland security secretary, told the New York Times that if these scanners had been in place, they would have caught the would-be bomber. Ben Wallace, the Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, disagrees, saying that the technologies can't detect the kind of low-density explosive that the would-be terrorist tried to use on December 25th."

Comments

yeah, and?

[girlintraining]

Ben Wallace, the Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, disagrees, saying that the technologies can't detect the kind of low-density explosive that the would-be terrorist tried to use on December 25th."

Since when has a technology that doesn't work deterred the US from using it anyway? :(

Just wait...

[mishehu]

...until some terrorist manages to get his underwear bomb past the millimeter wave. After that, will we all be required to fly in the nude? (If so, I refuse to fly unless I'm flying in a plane full of nothing but attractive young female swimsuit models)

Re:... but not if

[dunezone]

Don't give Tom Green any new ideas.

Re:It was not a "failed" attack.

[Anonymous Coward]

That there were no dead bodies or a mile-wide debris trail in downtown Detroit is trivial

Because that stuff is already in Detroit.

Body Paint

[Itninja]

Next time I fly I am going to use a paint-pen to write something clever on my ass and see if they notice. Maybe something like "open other end".

Re:First

[daveime]

If only you hadn't been wearing a long black beard and carrying a prayer mat, you might have made it through the full body scanner quicker, then you really *would* have been first !

Addendum

[hellfire]

If so, I refuse to fly unless I'm flying in a plane full of nothing but attractive young female swimsuit models who become nymphomaniacs when they see a slightly rotund computer nerd.

There, fixed it for you.

Re:... but not if

[Maxo-Texas]

You are correct. I was mistaken. My memory only gets worse with age.

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2009/09/26/internal-bomb-suicide-bomber-hid-explosives-inside-his-body/

It's interesting to me that it created a large crater under the terrorist but failed to kill the target. I'm guessing the rib cage shaped the charge downwards. Talk about killer farts.