Flutterby™! : TSA Bomb 2012-05-07 22:26:11.376367+00

TSA Bomb

2012-05-07 22:26:11.376367+00 by ebradway 4 comments

You may have heard that the CIA has supposedly stopped a new underwear bomb before it was used. What's most interesting from the AP in-depth piece:

They said the device did not contain metal, meaning it probably could have passed through an airport metal detector. But it was not clear whether new body scanners used in many airports would have detected it.

Whether or not the body scanners would have detected it is a moot point. What's important is that the body scanners were in no way involved in stopping the threat.

Bingo, it was, even more than the FBI "terror plots" have been, another instance of the agency which gets credit for the bust doing the heavy lifting. Officials: Al-Qaida bomber was CIA informant (AP story, so it'll disappear eventually).

It's also worth noting that the target was a single airplane, not a building full of people. So the scanners wouldn't have caught an attack that would have threatened a centiautomobileannualdeaths.

While the scanners were being purchased the point was made that only explosives made with a relatively thick hard edge would be detected. If the plastic explosive was thinned out towards the edges it would not be detectable.

At around that time an FBI agent had argued that she not only knew how to get a metal pistol past the scanners, but that she had several times. At the time she refused to explain how, but we now know that it need only be carried outside the body. The black background of the booth obscures the weapon.

Humint, which has been responsible for stopping most of the serious terrorism, +5. Tech -10.

#Comment Re: made: 2012-05-08 11:43:48.910631+00 by: meuon [edit history]

CIA: +1. What would the CIA have done with the TSA budget, or just the money spent on scanners? Or NASA for that matter. The TSA is largely a jobs program, duplicating other agencies responsibilities.