Some folks have commented about the “fiction” of airport security - how all the riggamarole is for show and to make people safe, but is perhaps not as effective as the public might be lead to believe.
The folks over at The Swamp can offer this anecdote to fuel that school of thought:
From that moment, the carrying of liquids on board airplanes was forbidden–not including baby formula, prescription medicines and a few other exceptions. But while we have x-ray machines for baggage and metal detectors for guns and knives, the liquid detector has yet to be invented. So the Heathrow screeners were reduced to asking each departing passenger, “Any liquids?” As each passenger answered “No,” he or she was allowed to saunter aboard the airplane. No pat-downs, or any other effort to make sure the passenger’s pockets weren’t filled with vials of nitroglycerine. What it all came down to, in the end, was the honor system.