If nothing else, the Trump campaign organization and White House have proven to be a masters of misdirection.  And unfortunately, for the most part, they have been successful in setting the narrative.  But that may have changed on Monday, when the liar-in-chief was exposed as a hack conspiracy theorist by FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers. Now, everything the administrations says or does is suspect, as well it should be.

And it did not take 24 hours for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to shatter its credibility by issuing a nonsensical restriction on the on-board use of laptops, tablets, DVD players, cameras and video games.  And of course, the ban applies only to foreign carriers flying out of eight airports in Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The directive is based on an unspecified threat that “militant groups want to smuggle explosive devices in electronic gadgets.” (Source, CNBC, March 21, 2017)

I know.  By calling the restriction “nonsensical,” it appears that I am not concerned about airline safety.   Just the opposite.  As I hope to prove, this poorly conceived and hastily issued (does that sound familiar?) DHS directive actually puts Americans in greater peril.  Consider the following.

Since, September 11, 2001, there have been two attempts by militant terrorists to take down U.S. airliners.  On December 22, 2001, Richard Reid, an Islamic Fundamentalist from (this is important) Great Britain tried to detonate plastic explosives concealed in his shoes.  The flight originated from (now pay attention Secretary Kelly) Charles de Gaulle Airport in (still listening?) Paris, France.

The second attempt was made on December 25, 2009 by Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who concealed plastic explosives in his underwear.  Adulmutallab, boarded Northwest Airlines Flight 253 which originated at (still there Secretary Kelly?) Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands.*

Perhaps the most devastating example of a terrorist bomb bringing down an airplane is Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21, 1988, resulting in the death 259  passengers and 11 people on the ground.  The flight originated in London and the explosives were smuggled on board in a cassette player which was then hidden in a checked suitcase.

The DHS explanation of the ban stated that it would not affect any U.S. based carriers as none had direct flights from the eight targeted airports to the United States.  This defies logic.  If the terrorists’ prime objective is to unsettle Americans, the most appropriate bombing target is a U.S. carrier on which the majority of passengers are likely American citizens.  Even in the case of Metrojet Flight 9268 on October 31, 2015, for which ISIS claimed responsibility, the chosen target which crashed after take-off from Sharm El Sheikh International Airport  on the Sinai Peninsula was a Russian carrier because (Secretary Kelly?) there were 219 Russians, mostly tourists, on board.  If you want to terrorize Russians, and you have a choice of a Russian or Egyptian carrier, which do you choose?  This is not rocket science.

Virtually every electronic device has an internal clock.  Therefore, it makes no difference if an explosive device is smuggled on board in checked luggage or is carried on board.  By their very nature, any electronic device can be a ticking time bomb.

Finally, weren’t we just recently warned about the fire risk from lithium-ion batteries, especially those stored in cargo bays?  Who needs terrorists when DHS is increasing the fire hazard by mandating devices, most of which run on lithium-ion batteries, be transported (you guessed it) in cargo bays?

So let me get this straight.  DHS is increasing surveillance at airports which are unlikely points of origin for flights any terrorist might target to disrupt international travel by U.S. citizens.  The ban applies only to carriers which have not been terrorist targets. Persons wishing to do harm to Americans will continue to do what they have always done, focus on U.S. carriers with flights from international hubs from which those carriers fly.  And while thousands of air travelers will be inconvenienced, the terrorist need only check their destructive device rather than carry it on board.

Assuming the unspecified threat which triggered the DHS ban is real, there has to be a better way.  And the sad thing is, it already exists.  Earlier this year my wife and I traveled to Israel, a destination for which air travel safety is a constant concern.  Two things I observed suggest why travel to and from Tel Aviv is among the safest international routes.  Prior to boarding our outbound flight from Liberty International Airport (Newark) all carry-on bags were placed on a table and scanned for explosives.  This was done in groups of perhaps 20 passengers at a time.  It took less than five minutes.

Our experience at Ben Gurion Airport (Tel Aviv) was less intrusive than at any major airport in the U.S.  We did not have to take off our shoes or remove electronic devices from our carry-on bags.  There was one difference.  At the security checkpoint we were asked a number of questions by courteous and professional security officers.  Although I do not know this for a fact, I suspect our responses were monitored using voice stress analysis (VSA).  We saw no indication of profiling as EVERY passenger was treated identically.

If a country which is a figurative bulls eye for most of the world’s major terrorist organizations can figure this out, why can’t we?  Yes, militants will develop more sophisticated weapons, but pretending to make us safer with the new DHS directive is symbolic at best. Time and effort would be better spent on technologies and airport security personnel training and deployment.

For What It’s Worth.
Dr. ESP

*Historical Footnote:  According to TSA officials,  the explosive carried by Abdulmutallab on Flight 253 “failed to detonate because the bomber wore the same underwear for two weeks straight and soiled the device.”  (Source, NY Daily News, July 25, 2014)  You just cannot make this stuff up.