It's also worth considering the liability issue. In todays litiginous world in the USA (UK is catching up), can security organisations really afford to allow our safety to rely almost solely on an operatives judgement, as per the Israeli model? (I agree wholeheartedly with previous comments about the intelligence and ability of said operatives in UK and USA!) Even forgetting the possibility of legal action, the propensity for the press to find somebody to blame at all costs means no elected politician is going to trust his position to the judgement of some "oik" on minimum pay!
At least by subjecting everybody to the same mindless routine, said operatives (and their employers et al) have an excuse in the event of a security breach. "Wosn't my fault. I dun my bit like wot it sez in my job description, di'nt I?"
IMHO the ideal solution would involve a combination of the blanket western approach and the Israeli practice. I do not think profiling is a dirty word, it's absolutely necessary. The police have been using it for years before anybody thought to give it a name. A suspect's behaviour will tell you more than the words he uses!
Lastly as frequent SLF through LHR, I am totally amazed that there isn't a separate route through the process for crew. I agree you have to go through the same process, but a streamlined or dedicated crew route would seem so logical. It's a real pain for me once a month or so - it must be hell to do it even more regularly.
