The problem, tasineah, (or at least one of the problems) is that there's no reason to bumble our way through stupid ways until we figure out the right ways. Plenty of other countries have gone through this, and plenty of people in the US have also made serious suggestions regarding things that would
actually make us safer, as opposed to making us
feel safer.
For one thing, 9/11 was a failure of intelligence, not airport security. Yet we still haven't fully implemented the recommended changes to close that hole. Furthermore, the underwear bomber that is being used as an excuse for these machines? He still wouldn't have been caught because he went through a security hole in a different country.
If we're relying on airport security - people who are recruited off the top of
pizza boxes with promises of "x-ray vision" - to stop a terrorist attack... we're all fucked, no matter what advanced technology they're using to invade our privacy without probable cause.