PAM MEISTER; STILL DOING EVERYTHING TO AVOID PROFILING AT AIRPORTS
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.5544/pub_detail.asp
Exclusive: Ahoy, Me Swabbies – Is New Airline Screening Technique Just Another PC Smokescreen?
Pam Meister
Doing everything it can to avoid any kind of profiling at airports, the TSA has announced its latest airline screening procedure – swabbing:
To the list of instructions you hear at airport checkpoints, add this: “Put your palms forward, please.”
The Transportation Security Administration soon will begin randomly swabbing passengers’ hands at checkpoints and airport gates to test them for traces of explosives.
[…]
“The point is to make sure that the air environment is a safe environment,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told CNN. “We know that al Qaeda [and other] terrorists continue to think of aviation as a way to attack the United States. One way we keep it safe is by new technology [and] random use of different types of technology.”
Sounds great, doesn’t it? But how well will swabbing work if would-be jihadist terrorists use latex gloves during their pre-flight explosive prep? Does that mean that TSA agents will soon be swabbing passengers’ nether regions?
I’m curious to know if this new procedure is in response to the “fatwa†issued by Muslim clerics against full-body scanners because said scanners are a violation of Islamic law. Considering that pious Muslims are encouraged to not even greet infidels, let alone allow them to swab their hands, this could also be problematic.
Then there is the continued kowtowing to self-anointed Muslim leaders. National Security Deputy John Brennan was recently asked the following question by Omar Shahin, the ringleader of the infamous flying imams:
“We came to this country to enjoy freedom. We feel that since September 11, we aren’t enjoying these values anymore. … Also, we feel that there’s a big lack of trust between Muslims’ community and our government. … My question: Is there anything being done by our government to rebuild this trust?”
As one of my colleagues noted, rather than ask Shahin what he and his brethren have done to rebuild this trust, Brennan rolled over like a trained dog:
Brennan told Shahin that the post-9/11 response of the Bush administration was a “reaction some people might say was over the top in some areas” … and that “in an overabundance of caution, (we) implemented a number of security measures and activities that upon reflection now we look back, after the heat of the battle has died down a bit, we say they were excessive, OK.”
I have a question. Not counting incidents in movies – which would have you believe that only maniacal white Westerners would ever blow anyone up – which group of people has been responsible for a majority of terrorism attacks (big and small) world wide? Don’t worry; I already know the answer.
Speaking of inanity at the TSA, there is the story about how a disabled four-year-old boy was forced to remove his leg braces and walk through the metal detector without assistance, even though the braces were necessary for him to walk on his own. His parents complied, even though their son risked falling (fortunately, he made it through without mishap). If swabbing had been in place then, would little Ryan have had his hands swabbed too?
Another less talked about but highly alarming bit of news is that al Qaeda in Yemen is actively recruiting English-speaking individuals who are more like Americans. And women are at the top of the list:
An investigative source also said that among those attracting attention by the intelligence community are women recruits. The next wave of terrorists may include Western women, possibly Canadian, with forged documents. The use of women would be seen an evolution in Al Qaeda’s strategy from the failed Christmas Day attack by accused “underpants bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.
Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki is considered the top “talent spotter.” He is tied to three of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers, the Fort Hood shooting and Flight 253, which carried Abdulmutallab.
A former senior intelligence official who first identified Awlaki as a threat in 2008 said he believes Awlaki has hundreds of followers in the United States, so the focus of the intelligence community is not solely on overseas operatives but on people inside the United States.
It makes you long for the days when all you had to worry about with “talent spotters†were those phony talent agents who promised your daughter she’d make it big as an actress or model – then soaked you for big bucks for a worthless portfolio that ended up collecting dust in the attic.
I found one of the comments in the CNN article I linked at the beginning amusing: “I want bacon screening: Each passenger has to eat a piece of bacon before they can get on the plane. That would screen out 99% of terrorists, and the rest of us would have something delicious pre-flight.†Yes, it’s insensitive. Sue me for laughing. Wait, I’d better watch out; CAIR might take me up on that. However, it reminds me of something a friend said: “Why not an all-Muslim airline to avoid this? They could name it el-Allah.â€
All joking aside, it seems as though TSA and the rest of our government seems to be scrabbling around in the dark, trying this and that method in the hope that eventually something will work. Meanwhile, al Qaeda and other jihadist groups are on the offensive, constantly refining their “craft†as we struggle to react to their latest motives.
As we go on nine years since 9/11, it seems as though we aren’t any closer to regaining our “friendly skies†as we were then.
And what happens when they turn their attention away from airlines to other modes of transportation?
Pam Meister is the editor of FamilySecurityMatters.org.
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