I have just been thinking about the claim “airport security stops terrorists”. If airport security is really effective and there are many terrorists, then I would expect they would be often caught at the security point or they would target other buildings. Since the number of positive detections at airport security is low (Richard Reid being a notable and singular exception? update: of course attempted his attack before appropriate checks where in place) and there are not routine bombings in western countries, I conclude that one of these axioms is false. It seems odd to claim that if terrorists can’t target aircraft, they just give up…

AC1