>>http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/11/19/airport.security.issues/index.html?hpt=C1
>>
>>This is what Al Qaida has driven us to.
>
>I think think you got there for yourselves Mike> Also most security experts agree that airport searches are for public consumption and have nothing to do with effectively increasing security.

This is not really correct. These measures do increase the security in the avenue of attack they are trying to close. Leaving aside the desire of those in power to want to be seen to be doing something - the problem with security is that any security measure applied will simply change the modus operandi of the attacker, not eliminate the attacker or remove their motivation. If the authorities do nothing then you can board the plane and attack as before. So they have to close that channel (usually erring on the side of too much rather than too little since political careers are at stake in the event of a failure). But then the attacker simply changes to some other avenue or other target. It's a cat and mouse game which is in favour of the attacker since they only need to succeed some of the time while the defender needs to succeed all the time.