This refers to the editorial “Sharper focus on security” (Jan. 5). Lapses in airport security can have disastrous consequences. Measures such as taking full body scans — put in place after the latest attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian youth who attempted to blow up an American airliner over Detroit — and the x-ray of passengers’ shoes after a terror bid by shoe-bomber Richard Reid are reactive, not proactive. Though airport security needs to be beefed up, a better approach would be improved intelligence-gathering and sharing so that terror suspects can be prevented from entering an airport in the first place.
Varad Seshadri,
Sunnyvale
That Abdulmutallab succeeded in making a terror bid despite the sophisticated system that exists in the U.S. evokes security concerns. Instead of explaining away the lapses, President Obama should focus on making the security system foolproof.
S. Elangovan,
Kancheepuram
