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More brilliant Security moves from Obama... now with TSA staff. Our President has made the bold announcement that 10,000 TSA staff will get "secret Intelligence." Is this how we are going to save America's airlines and airports from terrorists? Let's make sure that 10,000 mystery people working at TSA now get secret Intelligence. I feel so much safer now. TSA worker plants white powder baggie on traveller as a joke. These days, joking about anything illegal while in an airport security line will likely land you in a holding cell, and might even result in criminal charges. But this column from the Philadelphia Inquirer has some wondering whether that rule applies to TSA employees themselves. It was no joke at security gate. In the tense new world of air travel, we're stripped of shoes, told not to take too much shampoo on board, frowned on if we crack a smile. The last thing we expect is a joke from a Transportation Security Administration screener — particularly one this stupid. Stupid TSA prank should remind everyone: good thing they're not unionized. You may have read about the Philadelphia TSA worker who scared ... an unsuspecting 22-year-old passenger by planting a bag of white powder in her carry-on bag. Luckily, he's already been fired. But if TSA was unionized... Another TSA complaint close to home. Last month's column on the TSA worker who jokingly planted a bag of white powder on a passenger at Philadelphia International Airport generated a half-million page views and scores of tips of other alleged abuses by those who work to keep us safe. Until last week, none of those complaints involved Philadelphia. Then I heard about Nadine Pellegrino, who learned just how powerful the government's word can be. 99-year-old Granny isn't the problem. I handed over my driver's licence and, as he had done with all the previous passengers, the Transportation Security Administration agent examined it. And examined it. And examined it some more. He had a loupe, one of those magnifying glasses jewellers use to examine diamonds for any surface blemishes or internal flaws. In this case, he was deploying it to examine how the ink lies on the paper. And when he'd finished doing that he got out his UV light to study the watermark on my licence. And, looking down at his bald patch as he went about his work with loving care, I was overcome by a sudden urge to point out that nobody had ever blown up a U.S. airliner with a fake driver's licence. DeMint: TSA nominee isn't qualified, shouldn't be confirmed. Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, who has been the target of much Democratic criticism for his efforts to slow down Senate confirmation of Erroll Southers, the Obama White House's nominee to head the Transportation Security Administration, now says Southers should not be confirmed. DeMint has been critical of Southers for refusing to answer questions about whether Southers would work toward unionizing the TSA. Another Republican opposes TSA nominee Erroll Southers. The top Republican on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is urging Republican Sen. Jim DeMint to stand firm in opposing the nomination of Erroll Southers to head the Transportation Security Administration. Security Theater Now Playing at Your Airport. [Scroll down] Worse yet, consider the panicky Mickey-Mouse, and embarrassing steps the U.S. Transportation Security Administration implemented hours after the Detroit bombing attempt: no crew announcements "concerning flight path or position over cities or landmarks," and disabling all passenger communications services. During a flight's final hour, passengers may not stand up, access carry-on baggage, nor "have any blankets, pillows, or personal belongings on the lap." ... The TSA engages in "security theater" — bumbling pretend-steps that treat all passengers equally rather than risk offending anyone by focusing, say, on religion. Military Blogger Michael Yon Detained, Handcuffed by TSA in Seattle Airport. [Scroll down slowly] Yon described the TSA officials as noticeably frustrated by his refusal to answer their questions: "I always assume everything is being recorded. I was trying to be professional." Yon continued, "They said I wasn't under arrest, but I'm handcuffed. In any other country, that qualifies as an arrest." ... "TSA people are out of control," he said. "They are not doing their jobs, they are harassing people, creating animosity. They ask you 'what time is your connective flight?' and they bully you until you miss the flight." DeMint: Unions are already hurting Border Patrol — TSA next? [Scroll down] DeMint has placed a hold on President Obama's nomination of Erroll Southers to head the TSA because Southers refused to say whether he would support TSA unionization. As we have noted, Southers has deeper problems that should disqualify him from such a position of authority. The mere fact that as an FBI agent he once used a government database to spy on his wife's boyfriend should be enough to prevent the promotion of Southers. That he also lied about the decades-old incident recently before Congress only adds to the problems with his nomination. Transportation Security Administration on trial. The editorial pages of practically every major newspaper in the country have warned that the Transportation Security Administration is failing. Left, right, center, it doesn't matter. The incompetence is obvious to anyone who looks. Just last week this page dubbed TSA the "Terrorism Service Administration" for broadcasting detailed security information that could be used to slip through our defenses. Transportation Security Administration on trial. The U.S. government knew purported bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab might be dangerous, but only placed him on a watch list that failed to bring him to the attention of anyone who could do anything before he got on the plane. That he was banned from entering Britain alone was surely enough to subject him to great scrutiny at airport checkpoints. He purchased a ticket with cash and had no checked luggage, all behaviors that are supposed to flag passengers. They were two of the very red flags we missed on Sept. 11, 2001. TSA nominee misled Congress about accessing confidential records. The White House nominee to lead the Transportation Security Administration gave Congress misleading information about incidents in which he inappropriately accessed a federal database, possibly in violation of privacy laws, documents obtained by The Washington Post show. Massive TSA Security Breach As Agency Gives Away Its Secrets. In a massive security breach, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) inadvertently posted online its airport screening procedures manual, including some of the most closely guarded secrets regarding special rules for diplomats and CIA and law enforcement officers. TSA Hands Al-Qaeda Its Playbook. In a blunder of astonishingly poor judgment, the TSA allowed one of its most sensitive documents, the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) manual, to be posted online. And then, instead of admitting the seriousness of its security breach, the TSA tried to take the position that the information wasn't that important. Only after Congress got involved did TSA take any action. Bureaucrats With Badges. Shortly after the Transportation Security Administration assumed control of airport security and [Conrad] Burns was still serving in Congress he was at Washington's National Airport for a flight home. National is the airport used almost exclusively by members of Congress to fly in and out of the nation's capital. Burns showed his U.S. Senate identification to a TSA agent who refused to accept it, telling him she was not familiar with the government-issued photo ID. He had to produce another form of picture ID she demanded. In an attempt to be funny, Burns offered his Sam's Club shopping card. The agent accepted it and sent Burns on his way. TSA Tells Airport Screeners to Stick to Weapons and Explosives. The American Civil Liberties Union has dropped its lawsuit against the Transportation Security Administration after the TSA revised its policy on searching travelers, telling screeners they can only investigate transportation-related issues, barring them from seeking evidence of crimes unrelated to air safety. Airport rules changed after Ron Paul aide detained. An angry aide to Rep. Ron Paul, an iPhone and $4,700 in cash have forced the Transportation Security Administration to quietly issue two new rules telling its airport screeners they can only conduct searches related to airplane safety. Terrorist watch list hits 1 million. The government's terrorist watch list has hit 1 million entries, up 32% since 2007. Federal data show the rise comes despite the removal of 33,000 entries last year by the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center in an effort to purge the list of outdated information and remove people cleared in investigations. 1,600 are suggested daily for FBI's list. Newly released FBI data offer evidence of the broad scope and complexity of the nation's terrorist watch list, documenting a daily flood of names nominated for inclusion to the controversial list. During a 12-month period ended in March this year, for example, the U.S. intelligence community suggested on a daily basis that 1,600 people qualified for the list because they presented a "reasonable suspicion," according to data provided to the Senate Judiciary Committee by the FBI in September and made public last week. Laptop Search Hit Rate: Only 1.4%. Under Customs' laptop search policy — first revealed on July 16, 2008 — computers, other digital media, and documents can be searched at the border with no individualized suspicion at all, and can be seized as evidence only when a Customs agent determines that there is probable cause. The policy permits agents to conduct the search without having either evidence of wrongdoing or even approval of a supervisor. It authorizes Customs agents to copy the contents of a laptop or other digital medium and send it to a distant location where persons unseen and unknown to the traveler decrypt and translate data in the laptop, and it permits Customs to "detain" the computer for weeks or for months while this occurs. Computers, Customs, and You. Without a warrant, probable cause or even the faintest suspicion, US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) may decide to search your computer and all its files, your cell phone, and iPod when you return home from abroad. It offers the usual excuse for eviscerating the Fourth Amendment: "Our ability to inspect what is coming into the United States is central to keeping dangerous people and things from entering the country and harming the American people." Actually, its ability to inspect is harming the American people since Customs' warrantless rummaging sends some victims to prison. Are TSA's Tracking Cookies Legal? The Transportation Security Agency's website is not only hosting a site that looks like a phishing attack designed to steal personal information from citizens, it's also using cookies on its website — a practice that the government frowns on. The main TSA site sets two cookies — both of which expire in 2017. One of the cookies is set to tsa.gov, while the other is served from a web analytics company called WebTrends. ACLU Assails 100-Mile Border Zone as 'Constitution-Free'. The government has long been able to search people entering and exiting the country without need to say why, which is known as the border search exception of the Fourth Amendment. After 9/11, Congress gave the Department of Homeland Security the right to use some of its powers deeper within the country, and now DHS has set up at least 33 internal checkpoints where they stop people, question them and ask them to prove citizenship, according to the ACLU. The Things He Carried: Airport security in America is a sham — "security theater" designed to make travelers feel better and catch stupid terrorists. Smart ones can get through security with fake boarding passes and all manner of prohibited items — as our correspondent did with ease. Internal DHS Documents Detail Expansion of Power. Recently obtained documents show that last year the Department of Homeland Security quietly reversed a two-decades-old policy that restricted customs agents from reading and copying the personal papers carried by travelers, including U.S. citizens. ID-less Travelers Added to Terrorism Threat Database. Previously, a little-known Transportation Security Administration rule allowed airline passengers to fly without showing identification so long as they went through extra screening. But starting June 21 this year, passengers now have to act nicely and provide enough biographical information so that the government could 'identify' them using private databases. Then they still get the extra screening. If the agent can't "identify" the person, the agent can block the person from flying. But either way, according to a USA Today story, their names get added to a database of people believed to be possible threats to aviation. The names are kept for 15 years and can be shared with law enforcement. TSA is as unpopular with Americans as the IRS. As long as the TSA refuses to tell the truth about what's really going on in airports and on airplanes, the flying public will refuse to trust the TSA. And that's going to continue to be revealed in the public's opinion. Commuter Flights Grounded Thanks To Bumbling TSA Inspector. Total Air Temperature (TAT) probes on nine American Eagle regional jets were damaged because "an overzealous TSA employee attempted to gain access to the parked aircraft" by using the TAT probes has would-be handholds. TSA is both incompetent and vindictive. Homeland Security Meets The Sopranos. Last spring, shortly after airing a news report that embarrassed the TSA and the Federal Air Marshal Service, CNN's investigative reporter Drew Griffin was suddenly placed on the TSA's terrorist watch list. Last week, CNN ran a follow-up piece. Anderson Cooper interviewed Griffin — a reporter who had suddenly moved from telling an important story to being part of it. ... The TSA does target people who critique or criticize the TSA. America's Cure For Everything: Punish The Innocent. I don't want to wait for hours while the Transportation Safety folks subject little old ladies in wheelchairs to intrusive searches. I'd much rather see these bureaucrats check Muslims who want to board the plane. Not every Muslim or Arab is a terrorist. But, so far, in the War on Islamic Fascism, every terrorist has been Muslim. … If profiling isn't acceptable because it's not Politically Correct, here is another idea: Put the Muslims on one plane and put the rest of us on a different one. The Airport Security Follies: Consider for a moment the hypocrisy of T.S.A.'s confiscation policy. At every concourse checkpoint you'll see a bin or barrel brimming with contraband containers taken from passengers for having exceeded the [3 ounce] volume limit. Now, the assumption has to be that the materials in those containers are potentially hazardous. If not, why were they seized in the first place? But if so, why are they dumped unceremoniously into the trash? They are not quarantined or handed over to the bomb squad; they are simply thrown away. The agency seems to be saying that it knows these things are harmless. But it's going to steal them anyway, and either you accept it or you don't fly. IG Issues Scathing Report on TSA. The Office of the Inspector General (IG) issued a report Tuesday [6/24/2008] regarding ongoing employee problems at the TSA. The results are not surprising. Low morale among screeners is compromising national security. TSA's new uniforms make them sick. Or at least that's what the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) claims. It "estimate[s]" that 200 or 300 "workers" [sic for "stand-ins at the security theater"] have complained of such symptoms. The TSA unveiled screeners' blue shirts and gold metal badges with great foofaraw this summer. Among their many other sins, no one at this absurd agency seems to have read Thoreau's warning against enterprises that require new clothes. Too bad: their ignorance and new costumes cost us $12 million. The Transportation Security Administration Reorganization Act of 2005: Most independent observers I am sure agree with Congressman Lungren after seeing the repeated reports of failure by the TSA to accomplish its goal of securing our airports and airliners from the known threats of terrorism. After more than four years on the job, explosives still cannot be readily identified by existing technology and security continues to be regularly breached on TSA's watch, with no hope for improvement in sight. TSA can't find real bombs either. The excuse we hear from the Transportation Security Administration when yet another report comes out finding that its screeners miss the majority of simulated bomb components that testers attempt to bring through airport checkpoints is that the tests are designed to be difficult and nobody would be able to get away with it if they were real bomb components. Yet investigators with no insider knowledge were able to smuggle real bomb components, sufficient to assemble powerful improvised explosive devices based on liquid explosives, past the TSA at 19 separate airports, according to a report released November 15 [2007]. TSA Censoring Posts on CNN Air Marshal Story. When a firearm goes on in a cockpit of a plane while it is on approach for landing, and TSA comes out publicly and claims, "The aircraft and the passengers were never in any danger," does TSA really believe the public is that stupid to believe such propaganda? Does TSA really believe that they will have any credibility left after such comments? Rare Marshals. Air Marshals are leaving the agency in droves. Less that 1% of flights are now covered by armed marshals, a CNN investigation reveals. … TSA, which is in charge of the Air Marshal Service, denies the allegations. Why Have 67,000 TSA Employees Left Their Jobs? Over the course of its six-year life, the Transportation Security Administration has hired 110,000 employees, and 67,000 of them have quit or been fired. Frightening odds for the first-line of defense against terrorists. ABC: 8,000 Foreigners Received Illegal Pilot Licenses. In one of the most damaging reports ever filed about the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), ABC news headlined yesterday with "9/11 Redoux: 'Thousands of Aliens' in U.S. Flight Schools Illegally." The article paints a pathetic portrait of the TSA in a free-fall, unable to handle the most basic of its Constitutionally-mandated jobs. The Editor says... I must have missed the aviation section in the Constitution. What part of the Constitution mandates the TSA? Congress Investigates TSA in Conflict of Interest Case. Congress has released a report detailing flaws in a TSA website so riddled with security flaws that Congressman Henry Waxman calls it "mindboggeling." The site was set up to help passengers remove their names from faulty watch lists but was so riddled with security holes, it could easily have been hacked into. Time to Profile Airline Passengers? In 2003, the TSA, charged with protecting U.S. airplanes, launched a passenger profiling system known as Screening of Passengers by Observation Techniques, or SPOT, now operating in twelve U.S. airports. … While methods that target the whole population have general value — SPOT did discover passengers with forged visas, fake IDs, stolen airline tickets, and various forms of contraband — its utility for counterterrorism is dubious. Airport Security: Winging It. Sadly, in today's federal bureaucracy the motto seems to be, "punishment for failure is not an option." Consider everybody's favorite, the Transportation Security Administration. TSA was born out of failure. After the federal government dropped the ball on 9/11, the answer was clear: Federalize airport security! Airports got an influx of new federal employees and air travelers found themselves subject to a series of rules they couldn't understand. TSA can't believe MacBook Air is a real laptop; owner misses flight. The TSA has been known to take issue with products designed in Cupertino before, but for one particular traveler, it was Apple's thinnest laptop ever that caused the latest holdup. Upon tossing his ultra-sleek slab of aluminum underneath the scanner, security managed to find enough peculiarities to remove it from the flow, pull it aside and wrangle up the owner for some questions. Senate defeats bid to strike TSA union rights provision. With heavy backing from organized labor, Senate Democrats prevailed Tuesday in keeping a provision in a massive homeland security bill that gives federal airport screeners collective bargaining rights, moving them one step closer to a veto showdown with the White House. TSA taking closer look at travelers' mannerisms. Looking for signs of "stress, fear and deception" among the hundreds of passengers shuffling past him at Orlando (Fla.) International Airport one day last month, security screener Edgar Medina focused on four casually dressed men trying to catch a flight to Minneapolis. Bush May Veto 9/11 Security Plan Over Airport Screener Unions. President George W. Bush may veto legislation to adopt many of the remaining recommendations of the Sept. 11 Commission unless Senate Democrats drop a plan to allow airport screeners to join unions, a Bush administration official said. A provision in the security legislation now before the Senate would give government-employed airport security screeners the right to bargain collectively for union contracts and whistle-blower protections. TSA Disaster. A new Government Accountability report shows that private airport screeners do a better job at detecting dangerous object than the bureaucrats at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). This report is the last in a long series, all of which demonstrate the poor performances of the 45,000-employee bureaucracy. So isn't it time for Congress to acknowledge its mistake and abolish TSA? TSA Kept an Illegal Secret Database Of Air Passengers. Documents show a federal agency has done exactly what Congress told it not to do — and what it said it wouldn't do. Singing CAIR's Tune, On Your Dime. On a weekend when the Bush administration achieved a new CAIR-friendly low, a prominent Democrat, following the lead of other prominent Democrats, distanced herself very publicly from the unsavory Council on American-Islamic Relations. The Transportation Security Administration is the executive agency created after 9/11 to protect American travelers. Yet, Americans viewing its website this weekend could not have felt very protected. The Pretense of Airport Security: The Transportation Security Administration is a joke, and not a funny one, either. As you pass through the TSA's airport checkpoints, you can expect to overhear mutters about the "gestapo," the "morons," and similar commentary from outraged but powerless travelers who have chosen to swallow their self-respect and submit to pointless, degrading invasions of their persons and property in order to avoid offending the thugs who, whenever they choose, can prevent passengers from proceeding with their travel. Something is horribly wrong with a population willing to tolerate such routine degradation and thuggery, especially when the alleged benefits of the humiliation are entirely bogus. Keep Your Eye on the TSA. Created in haste in an effort to restore the confidence of the traveling public in the security of commercial aviation after 9/11, the TSA stands as a testament to the hubris of government in believing that decades of neglect of commercial aviation security could be fixed simply by willing it so. Now that it appears that the departure of Admiral Stone as the TSA's head will bring with it a reduction in the TSA's role in aviation security, we must ask what future mischief is in store for commercial aviation. TSA budget proposal rewards incompetence. After the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Congress ordered all but five commercial airports to switch from privately employed screeners to a government workforce. Three years after the federal takeover, TSA is inundated with complaints. The GAO reported several times on the agency's ineffectiveness at providing quality airport screening, while the Department of Homeland Security's own inspector general showed that passenger screening by the TSA needed to be improved to keep explosives and weapons off commercial aircraft. Taking an ice pick to airline security: Truth is stranger than fiction. … The Transportation Security Administration is looking at new rules that would again allow passengers to carry on … ice picks, razor blades, martial arts throwing stars, bows and arrows, and knives under five inches long … which would appear to include box cutters. The same TSA that seems to delight in taking away our tiny nail clippers — to save us from doom at 30,000 feet — now suggests it might be A-OK to bring an ice pick on board. Editor's Note: Is the TSA completely incompetent from top to bottom? In my opinion, this latest move of theirs is a red herring. By proposing this ridiculous over-relaxation of their own rules, the TSA is apparently trying to generate backlash and create a massive public outcry for tighter security. TSA supports unionizing airport screeners — well, some of them. While most of the Bush administration has been fighting against increased unionization of security-related positions since 9/11, the Transportation Security Administration is headed the other way in a small case with national implications. TSA isn't only going against the overall Bush Administration position; it's reversing its own stated policy. Welcome to the war on image. In a recent meeting with Daniel Sutherland, head of the Civil Rights and Civil Liberties division of the Department of Homeland Security, American University's Akbar Ahmed had some suggestions, beginning, according to an online report in the Pakistani Daily Times, with pretty much eliminating Muslim profiling at airports. … "You simply cannot humiliate Muslims like this," Akbar said, describing a "peak level of anger" in "the young generation on the edge." Just one more pat-down and they'll blow. Keep Your Eye on the TSA. Created in haste in an effort to restore the confidence of the traveling public in the security of commercial aviation after 9/11, the TSA stands as a testament to the hubris of government in believing that decades of neglect of commercial aviation security could be fixed simply by willing it so. The Transportation Security Administration Reorganization Act of 2005. For many of the reasons set forth in the proposed law's mission statement, and other reasons not stated, the bill concludes that neither "the needs of the traveling public" nor those of security have been met. Background information: Complete List of Prohibited Items. Things you can't take to prohibited in-airport sterile areas and in the cabins of aircraft under the TSA regulations. Jive about airport security: It seems as though the Federal Aviation Administration's and Department of Transportation's operative assumption is that there's an equal chance that any person, including pilots and crewmembers, who boards a plane is a potential hijacker. That's why FAA and DOT security regulations require that everyone, including pilots and crew, be searched and "hijacking weapons" — like fingernail files, wine corkscrews and knitting needles — be confiscated. Airport insecurity: I don't think I can stand another news story on "beefed up" airport security. Playing in airports around the country since Sept. 11 are fabulous stage productions — part mystery, part thriller, part action — but mostly comedy. The airlines (who, unbeknownst to many are the ones responsible for airport security) know it's necessary to create the illusion of greater safety. So they put on fabulous shows consisting of a wide variety of scenes — from invasive but ineffective and unnecessary body searches to the dramatic discarding of deadly nail files. PC shield for terrorists: Most air travelers regard "airport security" as a bad joke. It is worse. It is an insult. The refusal to focus on the group to which Muslim terrorists are known to belong treats native-born citizens as the enemy and ensures the lack of security. Pointless searches of grandmothers, young children, U.S. representatives, presidential appointees, pilots and Marine generals divert resources from security and send the message that the government has no idea whatsoever who terrorists might be. Does the Punishment Fit the Crime? As the majority of the items banned from commercial aviation by the TSA are generally considered incapable of causing the serious harm we are trying to prevent aboard airliners, we need to re-think the justification for imposing burdensome fines on passengers who almost certainly took their scissors or miniature Swiss Army knife to the screening station without any intention of violating the law. Mineta Strikes Again: Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta has made another controversial decision that seems to place politics and political correctness above national security. Mineta, President Bush's only Democrat in the Cabinet and a holdover from the Clinton administration, has steadfastly opposed ethnic profiling as a tool in airport security screening. He has described it as "surrendering to actions of hate and discrimination." So grandmothers and nuns get frisked, while young Arab males sail through security. EPIC Questions Secrecy of TSA Privacy Advisory Group. In a letter to the Transportation Security Administration's privacy officer, EPIC has asked why the Secure Flight Privacy/IT Working Group is not being operated in accordance with federal law intended to ensure transparency of government advisory committees. Another Blow to the TSA's Stewardship: With another example of poor timing, and even worse judgment, the Transportation Security Administration has announced that, effective this month [April 2005], its partial ban on cigarette lighters, which allowed passengers to carry lighters using absorbed fuel inside airline cabins, will now be extended to include all cigarette lighters. Be warned: Dad's Zippo, which survived World War II, will be confiscated if you attempt to carry it on your person or in your checked bags — and you may be fined if you protest the loss of this heirloom too loudly at a screening station. Rhetorical question: In such a case, when an old Zippo lighter is confiscated from an airline passenger, who utlimately takes possession of it? TSA Finds Data On Air Passengers Lacked Protection. A new government report says officials in the Department of Homeland Security didn't do enough to keep airline-passenger data secure when using it to test a traveler-screening program. DHS's Inspector General says the Transportation Security Administration gathered 12 million passenger records from February 2002 to June 2003 and used most of them to test the Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System, or CAPPS 2, which was designed to check passenger names against government watch lists. Passengers weren't told their information was being used for testing. TSA officials shelved CAPPS 2 last year amid complaints it was an invasion of passenger privacy. TSA Lied About Protecting Passenger Data. This is major stuff. It shows that the TSA lied to the public about its use of personal data again and again and again. Suspicious airline incidents will head straight to TSA. To ensure it has a bird's eye view of every potential problem, the Transportation Security Administration is now requiring all airlines and airports to report immediately any potential security threats. The move is controversial: It is praised by security experts as a key step in ensuring another 9/11 does not happen, while airlines see a bureaucratic nuisance in the requirement to rapidly report incidents that may be insignificant. This is an analysis of security risks at airports, written in November, 2000. Security Up in the Air. Airport personnel are not well supervised. The poor control of ramp employees in particular creates an enormous breach in security. While it is required that passengers and flight crews walk through metal detectors before accessing gates and other restricted areas of the airport, the same cannot be said of other airline employees. At some airports, employees working the ramp side of the facility access their time clocks and locker areas through back gates or entrances under the terminal, and if there is a security station at these entrances, the employee's identification card is all that is needed for entry. In some instances, doors are locked and entry is granted by punching in a code number provided to employees. Such a system allows multiple exits and entries throughout the day and also allows employees to bring in uninspected parcels. TSA widens test of biometric IDs. The U.S. government is spending $25 million this fiscal year to road test a universal secure identity card loaded with biometric and personal data and tied to government "watch lists." Though the program is aimed at simplifying the security checks that airport personnel and other transportation workers must go through, privacy experts are warning of unintended consequences. Imperial Transportation Bureaucrat Says Yes to Lavish Offices, No to Armed Pilots. Undersecretary John Magaw, the chief of the new Transportation Security Administration, has been very busy lately. He just spent $410,000 of your tax dollars installing lavish fixtures in his new office suite at the Transportation department headquarters. Of course this is nothing new in Washington. Self-indulgent bureaucrats routinely get away with wasteful extravagance. It's rare, however, when they are caught red handed, and it's important to expose such behavior whenever possible. Taxpayers deserve better and should demand his resignation. TSA Orders Air Passenger Data for Test. Even though the move was expected, civil libertarians are protesting a directive by the government ordering airlines to turn over personal information on their customers that can include credit card numbers and addresses and even indicate a traveler's religion. Trusted Traveler Program: If you fly out of Logan Airport and don't want to take off your shoes for the security screeners and get your bags opened up, pay attention. The U.S. government is testing its "Trusted Traveler" program, and Logan is the fourth test airport. Currently only American Airlines frequent fliers are eligible, but if all goes well the program will be opened up to more people and more airports. Airline baggage limbo: Two years after the TSA took charge of safety in the skies — including luggage inspections — critics point to increased thefts and misplaced belongings and a backlog of tens of thousands of claims against the agency. At least 15,000 claims remain in limbo pending a dispute between the federal agency and the airlines as to who should pay for the missing goods, TSA officials say. Airline industry officials say the number is closer to 27,000 claims, of which only "a couple of hundred" have been settled. Don't Pay for an Airline Ticket with Cash. Willie Jones paid cash for a ticket to Houston, where he planned to purchase plants and shrubbery for his business. But by paying in cash, Jones immediately aroused suspicions that he was a drug dealer. Carrying large amounts of cash and being an African-American apparently fits the DEA's profile of such a criminal. Privacy group sues TSA, Justice over airline passenger data. A public interest organization has filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Transportation Security Administration and the Justice Department, seeking the immediate release of information about government efforts to collect airline passenger data since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Thank you for choosing United, Mr. bin Laden. Last week, I Fit the Profile: The label my friendly hometown airline had affixed to my bags had unexpectedly made me a marked man, someone selected for some unknown special treatment. The routine was broken; the power had shifted; the violation had begun. I suddenly felt as if in the grip of a giant vise, a terrible feeling I had last experienced as a teen-ager before fleeing Communist Hungary. Flying on Someone Else's Airplane Ticket: The photo-ID requirement on airplanes was established in 1996 by a still-secret FAA order. It was a reaction to TWA Flight 800, which exploded shortly after takeoff, killing all 230 on board. This was [officially] an accident — after 18 months the FBI concluded that there was no evidence of a bomb or missile — but the ID requirement was established anyway. The idea is that checking IDs increases security by making sure that the person flying is the person who bought the ticket. TSA-Approved Locks: Since 9/11, airport security has started opening checked luggage more. If they find a locked suitcase, they break the lock. But some travelers lock their suitcases, as they don't want the bags either accidentally opening up in transit or being opened up by some baggage handler looking for something to filch. In an attempt to satisfy both of these requirements, there's now a key escrow lock. You lock and unlock your suitcase normally, but there's a special TSA key that allows airport security to unlock it, too. Clearing the Way for Real Airport Security: The Transportation Safety Administration has erected a giant smokescreen designed to give the illusion of security — while deliberately obstructing the measures really required to stop terrorists. TSA Takeover Complete, But Is Flying Safer? In spite of the fact that there are more than 44,000 new passenger screeners and 158 federal security directors serving the country's 429 commercial airports, not all security experts agree that the federal presence means flying is safer. Same story: TSA Takeover Complete, But Flying Not Necessarily Safer: Kelly McCann, who trains bodyguards, government agents and military special forces, said screeners must know how to ask specific questions designed to root out passengers with unwelcome intentions. "They've been well-trained on the machines. They've been trained to be courteous. They've been trained to more properly handle the traveling public," McCann noted. "But, I've been traveling recently and I haven't seen any situation where they ask you anything different than they used to." "What we're doing is nothing more than a show. By embarking on the fantasy that we can solve this problem strictly by screening, we're doing nothing but wasting the taxpayers' money. It sure isn't making the traveling public any safer." TSA May Order Airlines to Share Data. Delta Airlines had originally agreed to participate in the program but withdrew following a firestorm of criticism over passenger privacy violations. Passenger Profiling Violates Rights, Doesn't Improve Safety. Because even some of the most critical government and commercial databases contain faulty data, authorities who rely on systems like CAPPS II run the risk of misidentifying individuals and "tagging" them as security risks, even forbidding passengers to board planes. Once available, travel authorities or others may use this sensitive data for purposes other than identifying potential threats to passengers aboard airplanes. EPIC's web page about Passenger Profiling. CAPPS-II originally shared many of the same elements of the Defense Department's "Total Information Awareness" program, which aimed at profiling innocent people. While there is an important threshold question if any of these profiling programs will actually be effective, there is also a vital need to engage in a public debate over the appropriateness and the privacy and security risks of such systems. A crucial first step for the debate is greater transparency from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). TSA: Taxpayer-soaking agency. The Transportation Security Administration is a fiscal black hole, and fiscal conservatives ought to be enraged. Fiscal Fiasco at TSA: Amidst concerns that the Transportation Security Administration has pulled budgets out of thin air and wasted millions of dollars, prominent lawmakers on Capitol Hill are now beginning to scrutinize the billions of tax dollars that have been spent to make our nation's airports more secure. TSA proposes database to track all airline passengers: Flight information from all airline passengers, including financial data, can be collected and analyzed under a little-seen regulation proposed by the Transportation Security Administration to track potential terrorists. The federal government wants to keep information for 50 years on passengers it believes pose threats to national security, while information on other passengers would be stored in a database for the duration of their travel and eliminated after their return. Feds Testing Air Passengers Check System: The government is getting ready to test a new risk-detection system that would check background information and assign a threat level to everyone who buys a ticket for a commercial flight. The No-Fly List When I started collecting information about the No-Fly List, the number of people on the list was believed to be less than 20,000. In the most recent articles, the number is estimated at over 80,000. Nobody [who will talk about it] knows for sure how people get on the list, just as nobody knows why certain people are frequently audited by the IRS; however, in the case of the IRS, there is abundant evidence that many IRS audits are politically motivated. Maybe that is the case here as well. The Watch List is Short, But Is It Useful? There are 250 Americans on the No-Fly list. That's the good news. The bad news? There's 250 people in America who the federal government believes are too dangerous to let onto a plane, but who aren't dangerous enough to arrest. U.S. Government to Take Over Airline Passenger Vetting. The Department of Homeland Security will take over responsibility for checking airline passenger names against government watch lists beginning in January, and will require travelers for the first time to provide their full name, birth date and gender as a condition for boarding commercial flights, U.S. officials said Wednesday [10/22/2008]. ... To bolster their case for the new program, U.S. officials for their first time disclosed that the no-fly list includes fewer than 2,500 individuals and the selectee list fewer than 16,000. We'll Have to Check, Sir. Pity the innocent air traveler whose name repeatedly registers as a match on the government's mammoth terrorist watch list. One major airline registers 9,000 false hits every day, according to Michael Chertoff, the secretary of homeland security. These travelers and thousands more must routinely step aside and provide firmer proof of identity. … The terrorist watch list keeps growing, exceeding 900,000 and adding up to 20,000 a month, by some estimates. The TSA's useless photo ID rules: The no-fly list -- a list of people so dangerous they are not allowed to fly yet so innocent we can't arrest them -- and the less dangerous "watch list" contain a combined 1 million names representing the identities and aliases of an estimated 400,000 people. There aren't that many terrorists out there; if there were, we would be feeling their effects. Almost all of the people stopped by the no-fly list are false positives. Air marshals' names tagged on 'no-fly' list. Some federal air marshals have been denied entry to flights they are assigned to protect when their names matched those on the terrorist no-fly list, and the agency says it's now taking steps to make sure their agents are allowed to board in the future. Mandela still on U.S. terrorist lists. Nelson Mandela, South Africa's Nobel Prize-winning symbol of hope for leading the fight against apartheid, is reported still on U.S. terrorist watch lists. His inclusion means Mandela must have special permission to enter the United States, USA Today said Thursday [5/1/2008]. Update: U.S. Congress removes Mandela from terrorist list. Former South African President Nelson Mandela received a gift for his 90th birthday as U.S. Congress finally approved the removal of his name from the country's terrorist list, local media reported on Friday [6/27/2008]. Unlikely Terrorists On No Fly List. Anyone who has passed through an airport in the last five years and has been pulled aside for extra screening knows that the government and the airlines keep a list of people they consider to be security threats. Every time you check in at the ticket counter your name is run through a computer to make sure you are not on something called the "No Fly List." The No-Fly List. For months, the TSA, a federal agency established a year ago to protect the nation's transportation system from terrorism, denied it had a blacklist of people to be singled out by security staff for special inspection and questioning. But in mid-November, in an interview with this reporter, spokesman David Steigman acknowledged that the government has "a list of about 1,000 people" who are deemed "threats to aviation" and not allowed on airplanes under any circumstances. I Got Trapped in the Secret 'No Fly List'. On August 19th [2004], at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Senator Edward Kennedy brought to public attention, the existence of this notorious 'no-fly list.' It has been reported in the news media that more than 350 Americans have suffered harassment by the execution of this 'no-fly list.' "No Fly" List Revelations: The FOIA lawsuit, brought by two San Francisco peace activists and the ACLU of Northern California, is now history. But an interesting history it is. It's a tale of the federal government's response to the events of September 11th — its often unorganized efforts to coordinate the screening of airline passengers using what became known as the "no fly" list. After they were stopped at the San Francisco airport and told that their names were on the government's "no fly" list, Plaintiffs Janet Adams and Rebecca Gordon sued to obtain access to documents maintained by the FBI and the TSA about themselves — and about the "no fly" list in general. Even in the face of this lawsuit, the TSA and FBI was willing to release few documents to the public. Conversation with Kip Hawley, TSA Administrator, Part 3. Let's talk about ID checks. I've called the no-fly list a list of people so dangerous they cannot be allowed to fly under any circumstance, yet so innocent we can't arrest them even under the Patriot Act. Except that's not even true; anyone, no matter how dangerous they are, can fly without an ID ?or by using someone else's boarding pass. And the list itself is filled with people who shouldn't be on it — dead people, people in jail, and so on — and primarily catches innocents with similar names. Why are you bothering? Faulty 'No-Fly' System Detailed. The federal government's "no-fly" list had 16 names on it on Sept. 11, 2001. Today, it has more than 20,000. The list, which identifies suspected terrorists seeking to board commercial airplanes, expanded rapidly even though the government knew that travelers were being mistakenly flagged, according to federal records. The records detail how government officials expressed little interest in tracking or resolving cases in which passenger names were confused with the growing number of names on the list. Papers Show Confusion as Government Watch List Grew Quickly. More than 300 pages of internal documents, turned over by the Justice Department on Friday as part of a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, provide a rare glimpse inside the workings of the government's so-called no-fly list. Federal officials have maintained tight secrecy over the list, saying little publicly about how it is developed, how many people are on it or how it is put into practice, even as prominent people like Senator Edward M. Kennedy have been mistakenly blocked from boarding planes. U.S. Watch Lists Sow Frustration and Fear. For years, Elizabeth Kushigian never had a problem flying back-and-forth to Costa Rica, where she runs a local micro-lending nonprofit. But in 2004, she suddenly found it impossible to re-enter the United States without being ordered into a special isolation room at Miami International Airport. There, she'd wait for extra scrutiny. "I was in the line where you come in and stamp your passport, and each time they would scan the passport and look at (the) screen and stiffen," Kushigian says. Blacklist Grounds American Passengers. Replying to questions from Salon magazine, David Steigman, a spokesman for the new Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said, "We have a list of about 1,000 people." The agency was created a year ago by the U.S. Congress to handle transportation safety during the war on terror. "This list is composed of names that are provided to us by various government organizations like the FBI, CIA and INS — We don't ask how they decide who to list. Each agency decides on its own who is a 'threat to aviation.'" Transfer of terrorist no-fly list 'earmarked'? To secure congressional funding for a pet project, Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., made a surprising claim: The little-known National Drug Intelligence Center was about to take charge of the "vitally important" terrorist no-fly list. Murtha's news, in a letter he sent to the House Intelligence Committee last month, came as a surprise to the nation's intelligence community. No-Fly List Checked for Accuracy, Cut. The Bush administration is checking the accuracy of a watch list of suspected terrorists banned from traveling on airliners in the U.S. and will probably cut the list in half, the head of the Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday [1/17/2007]. … Cutting the list in half is "nice but not all that meaningful," said Barry Steinhardt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. He noted that various estimates of the list's size, which is classified, have ranged from 50,000 to 350,000 names. Pushing National IDs: As [Justin] Rood points out, this extensive list contains numerous mistakes. "U.S. lawmakers and their spouses have been detained because their names were on the watch list," Rood observed. "Reporters who have reviewed versions of the list found it included the names of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, at the time he was alive but in custody in Iraq; imprisoned al Qaeda plotter Zacarias Moussaoui; and 14 of the 19 Sept. 11, 2001 hijackers, all of whom perished in the attacks." Trimming the "No-Fly" List: How many people have been a "false positive" on the TSA's no fly list and then inconvenienced? The purpose of the government's "no-fly" list is to identify people considered too dangerous to be allowed on commercial flights. Apparently, thousands of people have been mistakenly linked to names on terror watch lists when they crossed the border, boarded commercial airliners or were stopped for traffic violations, a government report said Friday. Why the System, Though More Efficient, Still Does Not Accord Travelers Sufficient Due Process: For those who have been wrongfully detained or delayed at the airport, or when traveling to Canada or Mexico, relief may be in sight. Beginning February 20, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will launch the new DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP). Associations Offer Qualified Support For DHS Watch-List Redress Plan. The Department of Homeland Security on Feb. 20 plans to launch the Traveler Redress Inquiry Program, offering travelers faster means to correct watch-list misidentification or point of entry issues, or rectify situations where passengers "have been unfairly or incorrectly delayed, denied boarding or identified for additional screening at our nation's transportation hubs," DHS said. 80,000+ red-flagged on "No Fly" Lists. The latest figures that I have seen are that at least 80,000 Americans are now on FBI and Homeland Security's red-flagged "no fly" lists with another 325,000 on yellow-flagged "watch lists" (the latter being subject to body and luggage searches). Hundreds more names are added every week. The criteria for being put in these lists is secret, and there is no official procedure for getting off a list. Men named David Nelson are being searched at airports across U.S.. Throughout Southern California and across the country, men named David Nelson report they have been harassed, questioned by FBI agents, pulled off airplanes, searched and then searched again when attempting air travel. 20,000 Put on government "no-fly" lists. The reason [Senator Edward] Kennedy was put on the list was that a suspected terrorist had allegedly used his name as an alias. You would think that airport security would be able to tell the difference between a fake and real Edward Kennedy, given that Senator Kennedy has one of the best known faces in America. He has also been taking the same flight between Boston and Washington, D.C. for the past 42 years. But no, the computer said not to allow anyone with his name to board. There's no getting off that no-fly list. Sarah Zapolsky was checking in for a flight to Italy when she discovered that her 9-month-old son's name was on the United States' "no fly" list of suspected terrorists. "We pointed down to the stroller, and he sat there and gurgled," Zapolsky said, recalling the July [2005] incident at Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C. "The desk agent started laughing … She couldn't print us out a boarding pass because he's on the no-fly list." Editor's Note: In order to make that decision, the airline ticket agent would have to believe that the nine month old baby was a terrorist and a potential threat. This could easily be used as proof of the ticket agent's insanity. People who stubbornly follow instructions, no matter how absurd, are dangerous individuals. They're the people who make wartime atrocities possible. Tens of thousands mistakenly matched to terrorist watch lists. About 30,000 airline passengers have discovered since last November that their names were mistakenly matched with those appearing on federal watch lists, a transportation security official said Tuesday [12/6/2005]. You are now on the No-Fly List. The National Press Photographers Association has gotten numerous reports from members who say they've been hassled by police since the Sept. 11, 2001. In early June, about 100 photographers crowded onto Manhattan subway trains and snapped pictures of each other in protest of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's proposed ban on photos on public transit. Congresswoman Has No-Fly List Troubles. A California congresswoman said she was briefly denied access to a United Airlines flight last week because her name appeared on a "no fly list" set up after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Rep. Loretta Sanchez, a Democrat who has been a critic of the no-fly list, said her staff had booked her a one-way ticket from Boise, Idaho, to Cincinnati through Denver. But they were prevented from printing her boarding pass online and at an airport kiosk. Grounded along with other fellow terrorists. When my wife's favorite aunt died last November we immediately made plans to head for St. Louis for the funeral. We drove the 700 miles to St. Louis. I am not allowed to fly on an airplane within the United States because the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration consider me a threat to the security of the United States. Yep. I'm on the official "no-fly" list, along with some 80,000 other Americans. More on the No-Fly List. Edward Allen's reaction to being on the government's "no-fly" list should have been the tip-off that he is no terrorist. "I don't want to be on the list. I want to fly and see my grandma," the 4-year-old boy said, according to his mother. Sijollie Allen and her son had trouble boarding planes last month because someone with the same name as Edward is on a government terrorist watch list. 4-year-old shows up on government 'no-fly' list. Sijollie Allen isn't the first mother to have travel plans delayed because of a 4-year-old son. … "Is this a joke?" she recalled telling Continental Airlines agents Dec. 21 at Bush Intercontinental Airport. "You can tell he's not a terrorist." Travelers gripe about no-fly errors. What if you were denied a boarding pass right up front because a government database thinks you're a threat to America? That's the most common gripe from nearly 100 passengers who filed complaints with the Transportation Security Administration between November 2003 and May 2004, according to documents obtained recently by the Electronic Privacy Information Center. Tens of thousands mistakenly put on terrorist watch lists. Nearly 30,000 airline passengers discovered in the past year that they were mistakenly placed on federal "terrorist" watch lists, a transportation security official said Tuesday [12/6/2005]. Expanding the No-Fly List: The no-fly list created by U.S. authorities, which singles out passengers who are potential terrorist threats, is the target of frequent criticism that it's incomplete and unreliable. But that hasn't stopped it from expanding dramatically. Aviation sources say the list has grown to more than 31,000, up from 19,000 last September. The No-Fly List: Imagine a list of suspected terrorists so dangerous that we can't ever let them fly, yet so innocent that we can't arrest them — even under the draconian provisions of the Patriot Act. This is the federal government's "No Fly" list. First circulated in the weeks after 9/11 as a counterterrorist tool, its details are shrouded in secrecy. But because the list is filled with inaccuracies and ambiguities, thousands of innocent, law-abiding Americans have been subjected to lengthy interrogations and invasive searches every time they fly, and sometimes forbidden to board airplanes. It also has been a complete failure, and has not been responsible for a single terrorist arrest anywhere. "Please step to the side, sir". Several documents produced by the Transportation Security Administration late in March [2003] indicate that the TSA actually keeps two main watch lists — one "no-fly" list of people "to be denied transport," and one "selectee list" of people who need "additional screening prior to boarding," according to an internal memo released by the agency. These lists have "expanded almost daily" since November 2001, the memo says. No-fly lists easily circumvented, passengers say. The whole notion that keeping a list of names contributes to safety is kind of questionable, especially when terrorists use aliases all the time. Look Who Made the "No Fly" List: Senator Ted Kennedy — one of the most recognizable figures in American politics — told a Senate committee hearing on Thursday [8/19/2004] he had been blocked several times from boarding commercial airline flights because his name was on a "no-fly" list intended to exclude potential terrorists. Judge Rebukes Government Over No-Fly List. A federal judge ruled Tuesday [6/15/2004] that the government is stonewalling attempts by the ACLU to acquire information about the government's secret ACLU to sue government over "no-fly" list. American Civil Liberties Union's officials declined to comment in advance of their planned announcement Tuesday [4/6/2004] that they would file a class-action lawsuit challenging the list of travelers that the government has barred from flying because they're considered a threat. Mr. bin Laden, you're clear to fly. Apparently bin Laden is not on the FBI's secret "no-fly list". According to airline-security documents obtained by Insight magazine, the name Osama bin Laden was punched into the computer by an airline official and, remarkably, that name was cleared at the security checkpoint all passengers must pass through before being issued a boarding pass. ACLU Seeks Government Data on Secret "No-Fly" List: The ACLU is asking a federal judge to demand that the TSA, FBI or the Justice Department disclose who is on the list, how they got on it and how they can get off it. Proof of a No-Fly List: Man Claims to Have Bomb, Is Barred from Flying. A man was barred from flying for 24 hours after he made a comment about an explosive device in his hand-held computer as his plane was about to take off from Salt Lake City on Friday [01/30/2004], officials said. U.S. terror watch list keeps eye on all groups: The U.S. master terror watch list, used to stop suspected terrorists from entering the country, includes not only suspected al Qaeda members but other suspects from a wide spectrum of organizations around the world, a top federal law enforcement official says. [Questions arose] about the master list and other watch lists including the TSA's "no-fly list" that were raised last week when it was reported that FBI agents had briefly detained a harmless federal employee who has an Irish last name. Amtrak Antics: With the Transportation Security Administration's (TSA) No-Fly list kicking an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 terrorists off American aviation, those folks have to get where they're going somehow. They could drive, of course, but there's a limit to how much carnage one can wreak with a car, even an SUV. And wreaking carnage is what terrorists are dying to do, right? So they're probably opting for trains and busses. Figure half are enduring Greyhound, while the other 40,000 to 50,000 are hopping Amtrak. Infants Among Those Caught Up in "No-Fly" Confusion. Infants have been stopped from boarding planes at airports throughout the United States because their names are the same as, or similar to, those of possible terrorists on the government's "no-fly list." Because of these screenings, parents have missed flights while scrambling to have babies' passports and other documents faxed to allow them to board. Same story: Even Babies Aren't Exempt From "No-Fly" List. Infants have been stopped from boarding planes at airports throughout the United States because their names are the same as or similar to those of possible terrorists on the government's "no-fly" list. It sounds like a joke, but it's not funny to parents who miss flights while scrambling to have babies' passports and other documents faxed. Editor's Note: According to this story, ... So why didn't the screeners know this?The Transportation Security Administration, which administers the list, instructs airlines not to deny boarding to children under 12 -- or select them for extra security checks -- even if their names match those on a list. 8-Year-Old Boy Held From Plane for Appearing on No-Fly List. Bryan Moore was set to catch his first plane trip when he arrived at an airport in Cortez, Colorado to fly home after visiting his sister, said the report. "They almost got me scheduled in and then the lady just bowed her head and said, 'We can't get you on this plane, you're a terrorist,'" Moore said. Dozens added to no-fly list. Dozens of names have been added to the government's no-fly list after an ongoing review of the terrorist watch-list system in the wake of a 23-year-old Nigerian man's attempt to blow up a passenger jet on Christmas Day, White House spokesman Bill Burton said Monday [1/4/2010]. The latest example: On US no-fly list: An 8-yr-old called Mikey. "Meet Mikey Hicks," said Najlah Feanny Hicks, introducing her 8-year-old son, a New Jersey Cub Scout and frequent traveler who has seldom boarded a plane without a hassle because he shares the name of a suspicious person. "It's not a myth." Michael Winston Hicks's mother initially sensed trouble when he was a baby and she could not get a seat for him on their flight to Florida at an airport kiosk; airline officials explained that his name "was on the list," she recalled. ACLU Calls Out U.S. Over "ABSURD" Bloated Terrorist Watch List. More that 900,000 people are currently listed as suspected terrorists on the US government's "do not fly" list, and that number will grow to beyond 1 million by summer, says the American Civil Liberties Union. ... [The list includes] 9/11 Hijackers. While certainly these were individuals we all wish had been watched out for, they are, in fact, dead. Yet, the names of 14 of the 19 hijackers from 9/11 were on a copy of the list obtained by 60 Minutes. More evidence that the list is poorly maintained... Boy Under 10 on Terror Watch List While Abdulmutallab Was Waved Through. Eight-year-old Mikey Hicks was first patted down at the airport at the age of two because he shares the name of someone who is "among 13,500 on the "selectee" list, which sets off a high level of security screening." And when he was just a baby, his mother couldn't get a seat for him on a plane because his name appeared on the list. Back to the Airline Insanity Page. Back to the Home page 
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