Are New Airport Security Measures Actually Keeping Us Safer?

More and more questions about the effectiveness of full body scanners at airports.

"You take away box cutters and cork screws, they put explosives in their shoes. You take away shoes, and they put it in liquids. Take away liquids, and they put it in their underwear," said Bruce Schneier, a Minnesota-based security expert and author.

"Now they're putting in full-body scanners, so they're going to do something else."

Mr. Schneier is part of a group of experts who question the efficacy of security measures implemented at airports in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001. They argue that the bulk of the tactics adopted by governments simply clog security lines, infringe upon civil liberties and do very little to guard against future threats. In fact, Mr. Schneier and other critics say many of the measures, including the most recent ones implemented after the failed Christmas Day bombing attempt on a Northwest Airlines flight bound for Detroit, are simply adopted to create a sense of security that something is being done in response to these new threats, but actually do very little to enhance safety.

"This is a stupid game and we should stop doing it," Mr. Schneier said.