After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center it was very clear that airport security had several flaws that needed to be attended to. The American people could not fathom how easy it was for terrorists to infiltrate the system. Unlike middle eastern countries, America prides itself on being the toughest and most heavily guarded nation in existence. It was a huge blow to the country to realize that our defense system was not as efficient as the country believed. In The Reluctant Fundamentalist, Changez finds himself under scrutiny after the attacks. He is separated from the rest of his colleagues and must undergo several searches. "At the airport, I was escorted by armed guards into a room where I was made to strip down to my boxer shorts...and I was, as a consequence, the last person to board our aircraft." This was typical to many people whose ethnicity was Arabic, Islamic, Pakistani, Afghanistan, etc. Many Muslims and other groups were targeted by airport security strictly based off of the bias that extreme Al-Qaeda members had just attacked the twin towers. Several different security measures and new technologies were implemented in order to ensure that another terrorist attack would not happen again. One of the technologies that aided in the fight against terrorism in airports is the full body scan which scans an individual going through airport security. The scanner detects if they have any weapons and can see under clothes, many argued that the new method was too revealing and an invasion of a customers' privacy. More importantly, after 9/11, the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created in further efforts to improve the country's defense in regards to terrorism. The administration conducts a terrorist watch list which puts several suspected people who have known links to terrorists in a group of individuals who aren't allowed to fly, at least not in America. The full body scanner was implemented by the TSA among other tactics. Other regulations involve strict rules regarding the amount of liquids you can carry with you. After 9/11 not only did individuals associated with terrorists by American citizens see their travel plans change, but so did the rest of America. Everyone was effected by the TSA and new flight regulations, making everyone question their safety.
"My entrance elicited looks of concern from many of my fellow passengers...I was aware of being under suspicion; I felt guilty." - Changez (Hamid 74)