I went Through Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam in 2005 and 2006

[Mortos]

I went through an interview at a podium with an airport employee and then I went through a metal detector and then I was went through a pat down similar to the ones causing an uproar right now in the United States. It was similar to a pat down done by a police officer. The person doing the pat down did not ask my permission or tell me how he was going to touch me, he just did it, matter of fact-ly and professionally. I did not feel violated or "groped" even though the screener did "touch my junk." It was a thorough pat down that included all of the intimate areas where a person might conceal something (armpits, crotch, buttocks,chest,inner thighs).

This was on a flight from Kuwait and there were many Kuwaitis on board as well as other Middle Easterners, Europeans and Americans. No one was exempted from the questions or the pat down.

I now everyone is up in arms about this "new' procedure and some are saying it is a power grab police state tactic by the TSA. When I went through it, it wasn't humiliating or psychologically damaging. If anything, it made me feel more comfortable about flying.

El Al, the Israeli airline, conducts layered interviews and they focus on people who fit the profile of terrorist bombers (i.e. racial, ethnic or religious). They have an excellent safety record. Would there style of security be preferable?

I don't fly much anymore. Not because of the enhanced security at airports but because I just don't like the experience once you get past the TSA and on to the crowded flights. Flying is a faster way to get from point a to point b but it is not the only way. If the airlines begin to feel their meager profits diminish, they may encourage other, less offensive ways, to ensure security.

Personally, it's not that big a deal to me to be patted down or scanned and, contrary to current popular sentiment, I think these tactics, while not the best, do provide a higher level of security than the old shoe removal and metal detection we are used to.

[gateley]

1. Thanks for your take on this. Presented this way it does make

it appear more 'business as usual' and not QUITE as horrific.

[saigon68]

2. No big deal eh?

Well if you had a six year old child about to be anally and rectally assaulted by one of those thugs, maybe you might think it was a big deal--

but then there are a lot of sheep who would willingly give up their freedom for bread and hay

[sufrommich]

9. I don't recall reading anything about a child being

"anally and rectally assaulted" by the TSA. Do you have a link?

[saigon68]

11. Look it up for yourself

[sufrommich]

14. Look what up? You made a statement that children are being

anally probed at the airport,surely you've got some information to back that up.

[saigon68]

17. Just for you with a kiss

[uppityperson]

18. Dark humor proves your assertion is true? Nope. If you have a source fot

what you say, please provide it as we'd like to be outraged. Thank you.

[saigon68]

30. I don't think anything short of a human sacrifice

would outrage the few TSA supporting sheep who are present here

[sufrommich]

20. Nothing says "I've got nothing " better than using a cartoon

as "proof".

[saigon68]

31. Six your old boy to mother

"Mommy why is that man feeling Daddy's Winkie"?

[KittyWampus]

26. Are you getting off on posting about 6 years olds getting anally assualted?

you keep on posting it on threads about the TSA's latest methods even though you've been repeatedly called out on it being bunk.

[Mortos]

27. Yes I would.

If my 5 year old was "anally and rectally assualted" by anyone, I would probably beat the person who did it to death. I haven't heard of TSA doing that and apparently you haven't either. This is the kind of rhetoric that gets people amped up for no reason.

[LisaL]

3. I am sure some peple think this is no big freaking deal.

Why these people presume that if it is no big freaking deal for them it should be so for everyone else, including people with health issues such as insulin pumps, colostomy bags, urinary incontinence, is beyond my understanding.

[SammyWinstonJack]

7. +1. nt

[uppityperson]

19. Those doing the searches definitely need more training in handling matters like that

Handled correctly, people with devices such as those can be searched, can be handled properly without harm.

[Bucky]

4. I'm just sayin...

if you're going to go to the bother of patting down my genitals... at least have the courtesy to finish the job.

[jonnyblitz]

5. My sister lived in Amsterdam and i went through the same

airport back then as well on several occasions in the 2004-2005 timeframe and I don't recall seeing or experiencing anything REMOTELY like what i have seen on the youtube videos of what is currently going on in the states that people are posting.

[sufrommich]

6. Yeah, I don't see it as a big deal either. nt

[HipChick]

8. The people doing the least amount of flying are doing the greatest amount of complaining

it would seem..Thanks for posting, I have had similiar experience on international flights. My last trip to Cairo was an eye opener, it occured within a few days of a pilot slamming a plane into the ground. I still flew, checks were very through.

[Harry Monroe]

10. Been through Schipol quite a few times in the past 10 years

I've never endured anything like what you just described.

[Name removed]

12. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[hedgehog]

13. It's possible that the pat-downs are done randomly. The thinking would be that

this would be enough to deter smugglers.

[stray cat]

15. People can still choose not to fly

I don't think its a right

[avaistheone1]

21. Better think again.

TSA is planning on rolling these out at train stations and at buses terminals among other spots.


Your choices and your rights will be extremely limited regarding travel without going through these radiating scanners and physical gropings. Do you really want to live in that kind of a police state? Is this what you want America to feel and look like?


This is America and these are our freedoms. I will fight to keep it free. I will not put up with this infringement on my rights.

[nadinbrzezinski]

25. And portable versions rolling down streets are next...

Papir, bitte

[Mortos]

28. I think the continued use of the words grope and molest and fondle

give these searches a sexual connotation which only serves to further inflame people's emotions. I sincerely doubt the average TSA screener is getting any sexual thrill or satisfaction from searching hundreds of people a day.

[Mortos]

29. Could you post some sort of evidence

that TSA plans to roll out the same type of security searches at bus stations and subways. I hadn't heard of that until your comment.

[uncommon]

24. Actually -

I would have to look it up again, but there is a statute on the books that gives American citizens the right to use the nation's airways freely. I don't think we've allowed that in a long time if ever though.

[bettyellen]

16. I have been through some serious scanners and pat downs overseas as well in the last ten years

and i think it's easier not to be all angry about it when it doesn't feel like you can directly blame it on our govt. i'm guessing there was a heightened level of checking because the flights were going to NYC, and maybe that's why I don;t mind it as much as others here. I'd also rather call my congressman instead of taking it out on TSA workers. But then, I love travelling a great deal, and have always found the trade offs well worth it.

[uncommon]

22. The point is, there is no reason to violate the personal bodily sovereignty of someone who they have

no reason to suspect of wrongdoing.

[nadinbrzezinski]

23. This is beyond what you went through

Mexico city, on our insistence, does them. They are equivalent to a Terry Stop.