Anti-Terror Rules May Not Be Permanent

The foiled plot to blow crowded U.S.-bound jetliners out of the sky has thrust air travelers into a brave new world: one of unprecedented security checks, teeth-grinding delays and learning to do without.

Counterterrorism experts doubt the tough restrictions imposed this week - bans on bringing aboard cosmetics that could conceal bomb-making ingredients, and electronic devices that potentially could be used as detonators - will become as permanent as metal detectors.

But the ever-intensifying measures being taken to secure airports and airliners, as well as trains, subway systems and other ground transport, raise thorny questions: How much security is too much? How does a world bent on thwarting terrorists ensure that people keep moving and airlines stay in business?

For ordinary citizens who face the possibility of flying without laptops, cell phones, Blackberrys, iPods, hair gel, toothpaste, bottled water and other business tools or creature comforts, it boils down to this: How much are they willing to endure?

"Above all, there will be a desire to return to normal life," Col. Christopher Langton, a terrorism expert with the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, said Friday.

Langton said rapid development of sophisticated new surveillance and bomb-detection technologies is needed "to let us travel freely again."

Underscoring the challenge that confronts authorities even in smaller cities, Vienna's international airport released figures Friday showing that more than 1.7 million people boarded flights there last month alone. Millions more pass through major hubs like London's Heathrow and New York's JFK airports.

Airports will continue to rely heavily on intelligence pointing to a specific threat against a specific flight, said Eva Axne, a security expert with the Swedish Civil Aviation Authority.

"Then we have the possibility to increase our measures for those flights," she said.

Airport security has intensified in the aftermath of significant terror threats since the 1970s, when metal detectors and baggage screening were more widely implemented after a series of hijackings.

After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, box cutters and other sharp items were outlawed, cockpits were fitted with bulletproof doors and armed, plainclothes air marshals flew on selected flights. Passengers at many airports are asked to remove their shoes - a response to would-be shoe bomber Richard Reid's attempt to blow up a Paris-to-Miami flight.

"Our guard is very strict. We don't hesitate for an instant to inspect suspicious people or luggage," said Masashi Date, an official in the aviation security section of Japan's Transport Ministry.

"That can be an inconvenience to passengers, but most are very cooperative because they understand the need for utmost caution," Date said, adding: "We don't have any information that terrorist groups are targeting Japan, but we are ready to further boost security at any suggestion the country is in danger."

George Muhoho, managing director of the Kenyan Airports Authority, said security must take precedence over moving people quickly through airports.

"We don't enjoy having to put people through very strict security," he said. "We don't like it, but unfortunately, we have to do it."

Although many Americans seem resigned to tighter security, Europeans - especially those in countries that once endured dictatorships - are wary of the shift toward broader surveillance.