# From: The Australian
# January 09, 2010
AN association representing many of the international carriers servicing Australia has slammed moves to introduce full-body scanners at airports, arguing that treating each of the six million passengers who fly every day as potential terrorists and subjecting them to virtual strip searches is absurd.
The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines criticism came as US President Barack Obama intensified pressure on countries such as Australia to introduce the controversial technology as he took responsibility for lapses by intelligence and security agencies in the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a Northwest Airlines jetliner. Mr Obama directed the Department of Homeland Security to strengthen international partnerships on aviation screening through greater use of imaging technology.
But the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines warned the reaction to such incidents smacked of the need to be seen to be doing something, rather than thinking through the appropriate action.
It said the public understood that no society could credibly claim to provide perfect security and it took political maturity to remain calm and not fall into the trap of knee-jerk reactions.
"Treating each of the six million passengers who fly every day as potential terrorists and subjecting them to virtual strip searches . . . borders on the absurd, particularly when compared to our approach to public security in other aspects of our daily lives," AAPA said. "Doing so comes at a cost, already measured in tens of billions of dollars annually.
"While new screening technologies are constantly under evaluation, including full-body scanners and automatic explosive detection systems, there is insufficient evidence regarding their effectiveness to justify their immediate deployment, not to mention unresolved health and privacy issues."
