I'm with Doppy. The purpose of terminal security is, first and foremost, to make the huddled masses feel good (or more specifically, to make them feel secure).

It would not have been politically acceptible for the politicos to say that 9-11 was caused by incompetence of the agents and screeners (and their supervisors) at Logan and Newark. Something had to be done, so they did something. Anything truly effective would not have been politically acceptible. If you'd like to read more about why most airport security is worthless, and what some effective measures would be, check out Bruce Schneier's website at http://www.schneier.com/crypto-gram.html. Just put "airport" in the search tool.

Still in doubt? Check out this NY Times story, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/17/na...screeners.html, reporting that airport security now is no better than before 9-11.