Thursday, 01 May 2008

Rants

Transportation “security:” fire them all


We’re now told that the Transportation Security Administration’s “no-fly” list has been doing a good job catching Federal Air Marshals– for years:

Federal Air Marshals (FAMs) familiar with the situation say the mix-ups, in which marshals are mistaken for terrorism suspects who share the same names, have gone on for years — just as they have for thousands of members of the traveling public.
...
“In some cases, planes have departed without any coverage because the airline employees were adamant they would not fly...”
Incompetence exemplified.  And I don’t blame the airline employees:  They are, after all, following the regulations.

Buried further down in the article is this little gem:
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said this week that one major air carrier reports roughly 9,000 false positive hits on the watch list every day.
And this has been going on for how many years?  Oh yes, Homeland Security’s “Terrorist Screening Center[1]” says it’s finally getting ready to deal with the estimated
...500,000 names on its watch list that are frequently matched during airport screenings and other law-enforcement encounters with the general public, and remove those names that don't belong to actual suspects.
Incredible.  500,000 names– that’s half a million, folks!  And 9,000 false hits â€“ from one airline â€“ every dayWotthehel has DHS/TSA been doing that they’re only now getting around to removing names that “don’t belong to actual suspects?”

If Chertoff had any self-respect, he’d fire every subordinate he has authority over, call for abolition of his agency, and then resign.  It’s long past time that this production of Homeland Security Theatre got the hook.


Via: Instapundit
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[1] Interesting name, that. Wouldn’t surprise me if travelers, after receiving the TSA’s “full inspection” treatment, might think things would be easier if, instead of getting hassled by the government, they were instead screened by the terrorists.

Posted by: Old Grouch in Rants at 16:12:00 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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