Originally Posted by etch5895
The thread is getting off topic. My two cents:
1. I believe that terrorist types are conducting passive surveillence of security and are probably conducting dry runs of some kind or another. I've got no proof of this other than it's what I would be doing if I were working for a terrorist organization.
2. We will never know for sure unless we either catch someone in the act (hard to prove unless they are committing a crime) or someone admits to probing security (not bloody likely).
Despite the masquerade of security portrayed by TSA, I don't believe they will stop anyone but the crazies that want to be "famous" and/or cause some sort of problem in response to and because of all the media attention and hype.
OTOH, whether the "bad" guys are doing dry runs or anything else ... they are likely not to be caught inside the airport. Either some of the intelligence operations, the phone tapping (y'know the stuff that ignore the fact we have a constitution and 3 branches of govt that are supposed to balance each other) or whatever will find them similar to the August bust in the UK or they will be successful. The subsequent probe will highlight the many (and I do mean many) gaps in the current security structure from cargo to flight crews to airport workers to passengers and airline employees, then it will be an "oops, should have done it better" and they will just screw it up again after a few more billion dollars flushed down the drain!
Cynical? You bet ya ... too much money spent, few results and an awful lot of pain and inconvenience to the flying public, not to mention the economic impact of these new measures that is coming but not yet felt (then again, they need an excuse for the failing economy and what's better than its "them terrorists fault"
)
Given the odds, I'd really like my water back, please.