New DHS Screening Measures Would Not Have Prevented 'Pants Bomber'

Ted Alden with the Council on Foreign Relations says that new measures just put in place by the Department of Homeland Security to require strict screening for air travelers from certain nations abroad would not have stopped Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian man who allegedly tried to detonate an explosive device aboard an airplane headed for Detroit on Christmas Day, from boarding his flight. (:28)
Listen

Failure Of Targeting System Led To Christmas Day Bomb Plot

Ted Alden with the Council on Foreign Relations says a failure by the airport security officials to use available information to properly screen alleged terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is what led to a potentially devastating incident on Christmas Day. Alden says rather than targeting travelers of certain ethnicities and who may be from certain countries, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) should just focus on strengthening the nation's current screening system. (:37)
Listen

Passenger Rights Advocate Cautions Against Rush To Use More Full Body Scanners

A member of the organization, Flyers Rights, told Talk Radio News Service on Monday that air travelers should be concerned about a possible increase in full body scanners at airport security lines.

"Millions are now going to be spent on the full body scanning machines that have not been proven...just because of that one incident," said Anjum Malik, referring to an attempted terrorist attack on Christmas Day in which a Nigerian man flying from Amsterdam to Detroit allegedly tried to detonate an explosive device that was hidden in his pants during the plane's descent.

Malik and others with Flyers Rights say that by ordering hundreds of full body scanners, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is wasting taxpayer dollars that would be more wisely spent on detector dogs. Dogs would be able to better "detect explosives without the intrusive privacy issues involved in a full body scanning," according to a release posted on the FlyersRights.org website.

Click on the audio icon link below to listen to the full conversation between Talk Radio News Service Correspondent Geoff Holtzman and Anjum Malik.
Listen