TSA Helps Re-Set US Relationship with India

The joy of unintended consequences...

You grope the Indian Ambassador in public and I'm assuming there will be political consequences. But the TSA "has a job to do" and to heck with the niceties of political relations and the need for international cooperation!

Here's a bit from Cory Doctorow on the BoingBoing blog:

The TSA is refusing to apologize to India's ambassador to the USA, who was flagged for an extended public grope because she was wearing a sari.

The Clarion-Ledger writes Ambassador Meera Shankar was in Jackson last weekend as a guest of Mississippi State University.
"While in town, Shankar met with Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, representatives from the Mississippi Development Authority and members of the Indian community in Jackson, and she spoke to more than 100 people at the Executive Lecture Forum of Jackson," the paper writes.

Shankar apparently was selected for enhanced screening, even though she did not set of the airport's metal detectors. Witnesses tell the Clarion-Ledger security agents told Shankar she was singled out because she was wearing a sari, which the paper notes is as "a traditional Indian robe that is draped across the body..."

The Clarion-Ledger writes "witnesses said Shankar asked for a private screening, but she was led to a clear box where two officers searched her in clear view."

"She is a very strong woman, but you could see in her face that she was humiliated," Tan Tsai, a research associate at MSU's International Security Studies center who witnessed the screening, tells the paper. "The Indian culture is very modest."

It all goes to show you: security theater means never having to say "your sari."

India diplomat gets 'humiliating' pat-down at Mississippi airport

I'm guessing that the next time President Barack Obama visits India he will be subjected to a "security required" strip search in full public view on the tarmac. Oh, and probably made to lie face down on the tarmac and put his hands behind his back and be handcuffed and left waiting for fifteen minutes while Indian security checks his credentials. You can never be too safe when it comes to "security", right?