US Security Measures At International Airports

Now President Barack Obama and his administration are getting serious on aviation security. This, after a US bound flight destined for Detroit experienced a failed bombing. A Nigerian man was successful in boarding a Detroit bound flight with explosives. The plan did not get executed as thought out by the terrorist(s), but it has set alarm bells ringing worldwide, and especially in the United States.

US officials and experts will now travel the globe to all those international airports that cater to US bound flights, and will review the security and technological procedures in place there. Obama asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano for a preliminary report on the security measures in place. In response, Janet Napolitano is sending Deputy Secretary Jane Holl Lute, Assistant Secretary for Policy David Heyman and other senior Department officials to meet up with the leaders from major international airports in Asia, Europe, Africa, Middle East and South America. The schedule begins on January 4, and the first destinations are all in Europe, before they move to other regions.

Napolitano said, "As part of the ongoing review to determine exactly what went wrong leading up to thwarted plane attack on Christmas Day, we are looking not only at our own processes, but also beyond our borders to ensure effective aviation security measures are in place for US-bound flights that originate at international airports. Because I am fully committed to making whatever changes are necessary to protect the safety of the traveling public, I am sending Deputy Secretary Lute and Assistant Secretary Heyman to work with our international partners on ways to collectively bolster our tactics for defeating terrorists wherever they may seek to launch an attack, and I will follow-up on these efforts with ministerial-level meetings within the next few weeks."

There will need to be international cooperation, because the threat of terrorism is an international one after all. Security measures will have to be in place at all major airports worldwide, though one thing is sure - the US would want passenger screening for all US bound flights.