Morning Security Brief: Full Body Scanners, Azzam the American, Prison Security, Airport Security, and Main Street Jihadism

♦ Congressional investigators yesterday learned that full body scanners may not have caught the explosives an alleged terrorist hid in his underwear on Christmas in an attempt to bring down an airliner. "Security experts say the advanced imaging technology, or AIT, has limits: The "backscatter" rays can be obscured by body parts, may not readily detect thin items seen "edge-on" or objects hidden inside the body, and require a human operator to decide whether to conduct additional questioning or a physical search," reports The Washington Post's Spencer S. Hsu. The GAO told lawmakers yesterday that deploying full body scanners at hig-risk airports will cost the taxpayer $2.4 billion.

♦ STRATFOR's Scott Stewart analyzes the latest release from American al Qaeda member Adam Gadahn, a.k.a. Azzam the American, which he says "is a message too interesting to ignore." In the message, Gadahn calls on Muslims to wage jihad against the closest possible target and goes on to praise the actions of alleged Fort Hood shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. Underneath the exhortations to bloody, lone wolf terrorism, STRATFOR says Gadahn's message is further proof that core al Qaeda continues to whither in strength.

♦ Two recent escapes at a Florida prison have led to emergency improvements. The Osceola County Commission yesterday approved $4 million worth of improvements to Osceola County Jail, including added security cameras, drug testing for employees, and an X-ray machine. "One of the changes will involve fixing the razor wire, which officials said was installed on the wrong side of the fence," Central Florida News 13 reports.

♦ Once again an airport had to shut down its security checkpoint just to be safe. This time it happened at Los Angeles International Airport after a bottle of liquid made it past screeners before it was scanned. "The unopened bottle that a couple said was prescription medication was examined by a special scanner to determine if it contained explosives, but it was returned to the couple before the test was completed," the Associated Press reports. Security screening shut down for 25 minutes until the threat was resolved.

♦ The Associated Press reports that recent events suggest that jihad has come to Main Street. "Altogether more than a dozen Americans have been captured or pursued for allegedly supporting jihad, or holy war, over the past two years. The cases demonstrate with increasing clarity what authorities have long known: The terrorist threat does not just come from the skies, far away, but from Hometown, U.S.A.," according to Eileen Sullivan and Devlin Barrett of the AP.