So at Istanbul airport terrorists attacked the airport screening lanes at the entrance to the airport. Instead^H^H^H^H^H^H In addition to normal security screenings, Istanbul also makes people queue at the entrance, and has a security screening there. A terrorist apparently waited in that line, blew himself up, about 30 dead.

What happens to security when a bomb goes off ? Well, apparently it is abandoned, and fails open. So you can walk straight through, unopposed. The 2 remaining terrorists (and hundreds of civilians) did just that, and while a police officer shot one of them before he could run into a crowd and that bomb went off in the middle of an open space, apparently without victims [1]. The other one, however did succeed.

According to this article the solution to this is what Baghdad airport does ... which is to have vehicle screening before the vehicles get near the airport building. One can only imagine what a nightmare it would be to do this at a high traffic airport but ...

How about we do the other alternative ? Obviously static defenses with long queues effectively make it easier, not harder, for terrorists to strike (talk about obvious). Let's use this opportunity to make sure people don't ever have to wait in security screening, avoiding creating a vulnerable point, and making air travel far more attractive for everybody concerned while we're at it.

[1] (note: VERY graphic violence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QKYBK04AmA )