The head of the Transportation Security Administration admits that the extra security measures at airports can be "invasive," but insists they are a necessary evil in the fight against terrorism.
"We are seeking to strike the right balance between privacy and security," TSA Administrator John Pistole said in a statement on Sunday. "We will work to make them as minimally invasive as possible while still providing the security that the American people want and deserve."
Pistole has also warned against boycotts or protests at security checkpoints, which could "tie up people who want to go home and see their loved ones."
"Just one or two recalcitrant passengers at an airport is all it takes to cause huge delays," said Paul Ruden, a spokesman for the American Society of travel Agents, which has warned its more than 8,000 members about delays resulting from a body-scanner boycott. "It doesn't take much to mess things up anyway - especially if someone purposely tries to mess it up."
A loosely organized Internet boycott of body scans is underway, and a National Opt-Out Day is scheduled for Wednesday to coincide with the busiest travel day of the year.
The TSA chief also appeared on several news programs over the weekend, during which he insisted that only a small percentage of the 34 million who have flown since the "enhanced" security measures went into effect have been subjected to the strict procedures.
The recently instituted measures include the use of full-body scanners, which penetrate a person's clothing to capture near-nude images, as well as "patdowns," a physical search of a person often used by law enforcement, have become lightning rods for flyers who say they have felt violated by the intrusive examinations.
Even Secretary of State Clinton admitted on CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday that she would avoid a patdown if she could.
"Not if I could avoid it. No, I mean who would?" she told host Bob Schieffer, but added that "as Secretary Napolitano has said, we're doing this because the terrorists keep getting more creative about what they do to hide explosives. You know, crazy things like underwear. So clearly, there is a need."
And if anyone has a better idea, the Obama administration would be happy to hear it.
"If there is a way to limit the number of people who are going to be put through surveillance, that's something that I'm sure can be considered," Clinton said.
However, the TSA and the Obama administration must combat the flood of horror stories that have become prevalent in the past week. Tales such as a flight attendant who claims she was forced to show her prosthetic breast during a patdown, or a man fitted with a urostomy bag who claims a TSA officer dislodged the device and caused him to be soaked with urine, yet made no apologies for the incident.
Yet another incident involved an 8-year-old boy who, according to the Salt Lake City Tribune, was forced to remove his shirt for a patdown. The video of that incident was posted to YouTube, and has since been viewed more than 700,000 times.
The TSA has launched a website to allow individuals to file their grievances or (maybe) applaud the security efforts. Travelers can visit www.ustravel.org/government-affairs/your-travel-voice and, in 2,500 words or less, share their tales about the nation's airports.
They can also post comments via Facebook at facebook.com/yourtravelvoice.
"I guess I should just watch as a Govenrment [sic] Agency has it [sic] way with the Citizens leaving them stripped of their rights, degraded and confused as to who the enemy is," wrote one Facebook user, Richard Smith.
"Left, center or right, people get really pissed when they have to bear sexual assault," wrote another, Andrew Freinkel.
Kevin Lake wrote, "I keep thinking that the scare our government creates is presented to us to rationalize what they have already done.... They spend millions of dollars on machines that do not work, then scare us into thinking we need them."
But as Pistole said in his statement, the world is not a safe place, and doing nothing isn't an option.
"We all wish we lived in a world where security procedures at airports weren't necessary but that just isn't the case," he said.
With News Wire Services
msheridan@nydailynews.com; or follow him at Twitter.com/NYDNSheridan
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