I fly in and out of Atlanta all the time Mrs Cobble. I flew in from SanFrancisco recently and had a very long wait for luggage. 2 hours after I was on the ground until I had it.

The possibility of someone slipping a bomb in your luggage when you were ARRIVING in the US and would be away from the airport would seem 1, difficult, 2 ridiculous and 3 counterproductive. I have had similar catastropes on airports all over Europe. THe point is that personal testimony about a problem with travel etc is hardly reason to change your travel plans. It is sort of chicken little mentality. GO where you want. Most of the time you will have good travel experiences, sometimes you won't and it is not a reflection on any one country, in my humble opinion.