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Increase in airport security leaves wake of unhappy nations
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Written by Julia Young, Co-Editor-in-Chief
Following the thwarted Christmas Day terrorist attempt to take down a U.S. jetliner approaching Detroit, U.S. administration created a list of 14 high-risk countries whose residents would experience greater security searches in U.S. airports, Pakistan, Syria, Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen make up the current list. Any traveler carrying a passport, travelling from or through these nations will experience full-body pat downs, more thorough luggage checks and full-body scans to prevent the use of explosives on planes.
On Jan. 11, Lebanese Minister of Information Tarek Mitri requested that the U.S. provide Lebanese citizens with a reason for the suspicion and remove Lebanon from the list after stating that Lebanon does not sponsor terrorism. Syria reacted similarly to the information, noting that the list acts as a form of discrimination and emphasizing that no terrorism attack ever involved a Syrian citizen.
“I think one of the main problems with airport security is that all we are basing our searches on is race and citizenship,” senior Paul Nguyen said. “I’ve never felt personally discriminated against because of my race in security situations, but I would be offended if I was an automatic suspect because of it.”
After receiving word of a potential terrorist attack on Friday, Jan. 22, India increased security in its domestic airport terminals, which dominoed when neighboring Nepal put its only international airport on high alert.
“It sounds a lot like every country is trying to one-up the others with its airport security,” junior Rachael Olson said. “But I don’t think it’s going to cause anything but trouble. Basically what happened on Christmas is going to keep happening because terrorists keep finding new ways to reach their goals. Our increased security just won’t stop anything long term.”
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