INS says visas issued to terrorists because government agencies never told of their terror links

The New York Post ^ | March 13, 2002 | MALCOLM BALFOUR and JOHN LEHMANN

[Spar]

MOHAMED ATTA: Hey, he's legal now.

March 13, 2002 -- Welcome to the United States, Mohamed Atta. Your visa has been approved. That was the message sent out by sleepy immigration officials this week while the rest of America was remembering the havoc wrought by the Sept. 11 attack leader.

[Spar]

The INS said the visas was granted weeks before Sept. 11. They insisted they granted approval to Atta and al Shehhi only because they were never told of their terror links by other government agencies.

This is not the first case of local police or some government agencies saying the same thing. Something was cloaking or "ghosting" these terrorists from certain government data bases and not from others (especially on databases frequently used to ID people directly but they were on databases that the were restricted to routine checks).

Either it's a systemic lack of communication between government agencies that's the problem or something else.

The INS has many faults but they did not drop the ball on this one.

[Spar]

fyi

[FreedominJesusChrist]

Get ready for a good old round of a government bureaucracy blaming another government bureaucracy blaming another government bureaucracy blaming another government bureaucracy...

[xvb]

They had no trouble keeping track of Elian Gonzalez and sending him back to a Communist country though.

[glc1173@aol.com]

And the "chattering classes" tell you to "trust your government" to protect you against terrorism instead of buying a gun and learning how to use it...

GUN REVIEWS free from ad-money bias - with emphasis on woman-friendliness of tested guns!

[SunStar]

The INS said the visas was granted weeks before Sept. 11. They insisted they granted approval to Atta and al Shehhi only because they were never told of their terror links by other government agencies.

Then why does the rest of the country know these two names by memory?

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

INS says visas issued to terrorists because government agencies never told of their terror links

Say again? Didn't the name "Mohammed Atta" ring a bell to anyone, especially since the guy's name has been splashed all over the media for the last 6 months? INS should burn for this!

[antaresequity]

Dumb and Dumber...How pathetic...

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Yep, that's my thought, too.

[dennisw]

Obviously the fat assed retards in the INS never read a newspaper and the name Mohammed Atta did not ring a bell for any of them. What morons! Same kind of idiots are now your federalized airport screeners.

[antaresequity]

I am glad I am armed...could you imagine counting on these idiots for your own personal security?...Sheesh

[hellinahandcart]

Red-faced INS officials said the department was battling a backlog of visa applications with an antiquated mail-delivery system. The INS said the visas was granted weeks before Sept. 11.

I use the same antiquated mail delivery system as the INS (it's called the USPS), and I can certainly get a letter where it's supposed to go in less than seven months. <pThey are lying, lying, lying. And they're also stupid and lazy. And they probably ALL make more money than I do, with lots of cool freebie benefits on my dime. They should all be fired. Their job could be done by "nobody" just as efficiently.

[Utopia]

I am glad I am armed...could you imagine counting on these idiots for your own personal security?...Sheesh

Bet these same idiots will demand that you dig deeper into your pockets with higher taxes so that they can buy all the unspecified things they need to have in order to do their job. After all, if they had all these unspecified things months ago, this snafu wouldn't have happened.

[Earl B.]

From another account of this fiasco:

"The INS is the Mickey Mouse Club of federal agencies, but this actually would indicate that's an insult to Mickey Mouse."

[Inkie]

Aside from the INS issue, how should the flight schools be punished for training these people before their visas came through?

[Spar]

The INS said the visas was granted weeks before Sept. 11.

[Procyon]

The approval letters were held up until March 5, when they were sent out by an INS-contracted company in Kentucky

So who owns this contract company in KY? Who awarded the business to them?

This story has legs.

[habs4ever]

Don' the bright sparks at INS read papers or watch TV? These names didn't leap off the page??Your tax dollars hard at work!!

[Poohbah]

Either it's a systemic lack of communication between government agencies that's the problem or something else.

My bet is on the former. Government agencies jealously hoard any and all information from "outsiders" (specifically, anybody not in THEIR alphabet agency), even when sharing it is critical to the success of a project they're paying for.

[Squantos]

LMBO ! Agreed, good post !..............Something about one awwww sh*t, wiping out all yer atta boys comes to mind here......... Goobermint beancounters try and defend themselves by saying this was all approved and a done deal "before" the 9-11 atrocity...........thus I guess the onus is on the Post Office for speedy delivery of these documents.............

I have no clue how their system works at INS but based on my view from the lazy boy recliner them people are just plain stoooooopid and a serious threat to national security !

Stay Safe !