Security theater

SO the TSA has decided that they will back off on groping little children patting down kids under 12 "due to public outrage".

Good.

Except that this really really shows the fallacy that the entire groping/porno-scan concept is composed of: If scanning/groping/patdowns etc are necessary for passengers in general, then they SHOULD be used on children as well. Children are as valid a conduit for contraband as adult. If the invasive measures are not necessary for children, then they are not necessary for the adults either. To exclude a segment of the travelling public, no matter what their age, is foolish and short sighted. Either you have a security issue, necessitating the search, or you don't. If searching little girls and boys in an invasive manner is wrong, then so is searching men and women in an invasive manner. If there is no need to search these children, then there is no reason to search the adults flying with them. Security is not a "sometimes" issue. You either have complete security (which we already know we don't) or you have no security, period. A determined "terrorist" would not hesitate to use a child to carry explosives or other harmful substances as a part of their sacrifice to their cause.

Security theater. No two ways about it. That is what we have. Not security.