Airport body scanners will uncover more than weapons

I have a rule when it comes to this delicate issue: I don't mind being strip-searched at the airport. I just want to pick who does it.

But there's no flier's-choice option at the new backscatter whole-body imaging machines just coming online at JFK and LaGuardia airports. And these high-powered peepers won't be missing much.

Surgical scars and breast implants. Those extra 20 pounds. Hidden piercings that were supposed to stay that way. Just in time for the holiday flying season, the X-ray machines have X-ray vision now.

"These machines represent an important way to stay ahead of the ever-evolving threat that faces the aviation sector," said Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

The TSA people say they're highly sensitive to passenger privacy concerns. They're professionals, they say. They don't want to see you naked. And just to be extra cautious, faces will be blurred. Men will screen men. Women will screen women. And the video monitors will be positioned so other passengers can't see.

But most of us are so insecure about our naked bodies, often for good reason. And the new airport peep show definitely won't help.

We want the skies to be safer. We understand sacrifices have to be made.

But here in the age of terror, there's no good balance between our security and our insecurity. Take that, Osama. It's the naked truth.

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