Kerry was warned about Logan Airport's vulnerability to hijackings...in May of 2001

Reality Hammer ^ | March 15, 2004 | Unknown

[conservativecorner]

Full story at http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/20808.htm

March 15, 2004 -- SEN. John Kerry boasts how he "sounded the alarm on terrorism years before 9/ 11," referring to his 1997 book "The New War." Too bad he didn't blast it when it really counted - four months before the hijackings, when he was hand-delivered evidence of serious security breaches at Logan International Airport, with specific warnings that terrorists could exploit them.

Former FAA security officials say the Massachusetts senator had the power to prevent at least the Boston hijackings and save the World Trade Center and thousands of lives, yet he failed to take effective action after they gave him a prophetic warning that his state's main airport was vulnerable to multiple hijackings.

"He just did the Pontius Pilate thing and passed the buck" on back through the federal bureaucracy, said Brian Sullivan, a retired FAA special agent from the Boston area who in May 2001 personally warned Kerry that Logan was ripe for a "jihad" suicide operation possibly involving "a coordinated attack."

Rewind to May 6, 2001. That night, a Boston TV station (Fox-25) aired reporter Deborah Sherman's story on an undercover investigation at Logan that Sullivan and another retired agent helped set up. In nine of 10 tries, a crew got knives and other weapons through security checkpoints - including the very ones the 9/11 hijackers would later exploit.

The next day, Sullivan fired off a two-page letter to Kerry highlighting the systemic failures.

...

More than 11 weeks later, Kerry finally replied to his well-informed and anxious constituent. "I have forwarded your tape to the Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General [DOT OIG]," he said in a brief July 24, 2001, letter, a copy of which I've obtained.

Yet Sullivan had made it clear in his letter that going to his old agency was a dead end. He and other agents had complained about security lapses for years and got nowhere. "The DOT OIG has become an ineffective overseer of the FAA," he told Kerry. Sullivan suggested he show the tape to peers on committees with FAA oversight. He even volunteered to testify before them.

But he never heard from Kerry again.

...

But a Kerry aide said not to bother. "You're not a constituent," Elson was told just a few weeks before the hijackings. He went ballistic, warning that if Kerry didn't act soon he'd risk the lives of planeloads of his actual constituents. That warning now looks like prophecy: At least 82 Kerry constituents were murdered aboard American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175.

Kinda puts a damper on the whole "Bush failed" smear campaign, doesn't it?

[alisasny]

THE WARNING KERRY IGNORED

[teletech]

Kinda puts a damper on the whole "Bush failed" smear campaign, doesn't it?

It SHOULD but remember these are DemocRATS. THEY don't admit failure!

[alisasny]

John Kerry September 12, 2001

"Clearly there were two failures of security at Logan Airport," said Sen. John F. Kerry, who stressed he did not think the security problem was isolated. "It's not just Logan. If you have four hijackings in one day, you have a national problem."

[Kherghan]

What Truly Sucks, is that the Mainstream Media will ignore this and continue Singing the Praises of John Scary.

[finnman69]

I love it....get this out.

[alex]

There is a spirited discussion on this topic on DU. It even has some semblance of a rational one we can see on FR.

The main point pinkos are making is that Kerry did the right thing and passed it on onto DOT bureaucrats, and it is actually Bush's fault that nobody paid attention.

I must admit pinkos came close this time, but no cigar again. DOT Secretary is Democrat Norman Y. Mineta. He served as U.S. Secretary of Commerce under President Clinton.

Was it a mistake to trust a Democrat with such an important post? May be, but it is a completely another question, which should be answered in the general context of 'can we trust Dims with anything?'

Also, it is very interesting to dug out what exactly Kerry wrote of DOT officials.

[Skywarner]

We couldn't make this stuff up if we tried.

The real challenge is for us to get this type of information out to the general voting public. I don't mean the 40% of the populace that will vote for Bush, or the 40% that will vote for Kerry (no matter what the facts). I mean the 20% of undecided and independent voters. They need to be educated about what Kerry is really like and the threat that his election posses to our nation's security and to the global War on Terror.

We are in the midst of World War III. We better start acting like it.

[teletech]

I would like to hear why Kerry didn't take this seriously. Is there more to this story than we now know? As I read this a chill ran up my spine. Here we have a man that had information that, had it been handled properly, would have saved countless lives and he is now running for president. God help this country if Kerry is elected!

[Your Nightmare]

http://www.freedomtocare.org/page213.htm

This is allegedly an article from NBC News dated 9/16/2001 where Brian Sullivan tells a little different story.

Sullivan says Sen. Kerry responded to his letter and asked the Department of Transportation's Inspector General look into the matter.

"I think Sen. Kerry did get it to the right people and they were about to take action."

Does this guy have a book coming out or something?

[Skywarner]

"But a Kerry aide said not to bother. "You're not a constituent," Elson was told just a few weeks before the hijackings. He went ballistic, warning that if Kerry didn't act soon he'd risk the lives of planeloads of his actual constituents. That warning now looks like prophecy: At least 82 Kerry constituents were murdered aboard American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175."

It appears as if the Kerry camp has some blood on its hands.

What did he know, and when did he know it? Why did he FAIL to take the issue seriously!?!

[Your Nightmare]

What do you propose Kerry should have done with the information? It sounds like he took him seriously and forwarded the information to the appropriate people.

[Bonaparte]

I cut/pasted your URL to "full story." Didn't work for me.

[teletech]

What do you propose Kerry should have done with the information? It sounds like he took him seriously and forwarded the information to the appropriate people.

He could have DEMANDED an investigation into the security at Logan Airport. Did he do that--NO! His aide told this man "yor're not a constituent". You sound like either a troll or a Kerry lover. Are you!?

[ravingnutter]

The main point pinkos are making is that Kerry did the right thing and passed it on onto DOT bureaucrats, and it is actually Bush's fault that nobody paid attention. I must admit pinkos came close this time, but no cigar again.

Definitely no cigar. Apparently the pinkos read as bad as they spell and worse than they cuss....

Yet Sullivan had made it clear in his letter that going to his old agency was a dead end. He and other agents had complained about security lapses for years and got nowhere. "The DOT OIG has become an ineffective overseer of the FAA," he told Kerry.

[Your Nightmare]

Here is an article dated May 27, 2002 by Brian Sullivan entitled "DOT, FAA and Airlines Share Blame for 9/11 Security Lapses."

http://www.insightmag.com/news/2002/06/17/FairComment/Dot-Faa.And.Airlines.Share.Blame.For.911.Security.Lapses-253643.shtml

[binger]

What, me worry!?

[Bonaparte]

Thanks for the link!

[Steve_Seattle]

It's interesting that Kerry's book was called "The New War," since Kerry is now taking the stance that the war on terror is over-hyped, is NOT a war, but rather a matter for police action.

[conservativecorner]

It worked fine for me, but in any case here's the article:

THE WARNING KERRY IGNORED

By PAUL SPERRY

March 15, 2004 -- SEN. John Kerry boasts how he "sounded the alarm on terrorism years before 9/ 11," referring to his 1997 book "The New War." Too bad he didn't blast it when it really counted - four months before the hijackings, when he was hand-delivered evidence of serious security breaches at Logan International Airport, with specific warnings that terrorists could exploit them.
Former FAA security officials say the Massachusetts senator had the power to prevent at least the Boston hijackings and save the World Trade Center and thousands of lives, yet he failed to take effective action after they gave him a prophetic warning that his state's main airport was vulnerable to multiple hijackings.

"He just did the Pontius Pilate thing and passed the buck" on back through the federal bureaucracy, said Brian Sullivan, a retired FAA special agent from the Boston area who in May 2001 personally warned Kerry that Logan was ripe for a "jihad" suicide operation possibly involving "a coordinated attack."

Rewind to May 6, 2001. That night, a Boston TV station (Fox-25) aired reporter Deborah Sherman's story on an undercover investigation at Logan that Sullivan and another retired agent helped set up. In nine of 10 tries, a crew got knives and other weapons through security checkpoints - including the very ones the 9/11 hijackers would later exploit.

The next day, Sullivan fired off a two-page letter to Kerry highlighting the systemic failures.

"With the concept of jihad, do you think it would be difficult for a determined terrorist to get on a plane and destroy himself and all other passengers?" he warned. "Think what the result would be of a coordinated attack which took down several domestic flights on the same day. With our current screening, this is more than possible. It is almost likely." The toll from such an attack would be economic, as well as human, he predicted with chilling accuracy.

Sullivan followed up by having the undercover videotape hand-delivered to Kerry's office.



More than 11 weeks later, Kerry finally replied to his well-informed and anxious constituent. "I have forwarded your tape to the Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General [DOT OIG]," he said in a brief July 24, 2001, letter, a copy of which I've obtained.

Yet Sullivan had made it clear in his letter that going to his old agency was a dead end. He and other agents had complained about security lapses for years and got nowhere. "The DOT OIG has become an ineffective overseer of the FAA," he told Kerry. Sullivan suggested he show the tape to peers on committees with FAA oversight. He even volunteered to testify before them.

But he never heard from Kerry again.

At that point, Steve Elson, the other agent who'd teamed up on the TV sting, decided to take a crack at the junior senator.

A fiery ex-Navy Seal, Elson spent three years as part of an elite FAA unit called the Red Team, which did covert testing of airport security across the country, before retiring as a field agent in Houston. He offered to fly to Washington at his own expense to give Kerry a document-backed presentation about the "facade of security" at Logan and other major airports.

But a Kerry aide said not to bother. "You're not a constituent," Elson was told just a few weeks before the hijackings. He went ballistic, warning that if Kerry didn't act soon he'd risk the lives of planeloads of his actual constituents. That warning now looks like prophecy: At least 82 Kerry constituents were murdered aboard American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175.

"Enhanced security would have prevented the hijackings, virtually without question," Elson now insists. If nothing else, it might have discouraged ringleader Mohamed Atta, who monitored security procedures at Logan weeks before the hijackings.

Yet the warnings apparently did stick in Kerry's mind: In the days after 9/11, Kerry told the Boston Globe that he'd triggered an undercover probe of Logan security by the General Accounting Office in June 2001.

But he wrote Sullivan no such thing in his July letter, stating only that he passed his warning and tape on to Transportation, not GAO. And GAO, though it is the investigative arm of Congress, didn't seem to know what the senator was talking about. The agency had tested security at two airports before 9/11, but neither one was Logan. And Kerry confessed he didn't know the outcome of the probe he says he triggered.

Some follow-up, senator.

Sullivan and Elson, joined by aviation-security experts David Forbes and Andrew Thomas, want to see Kerry hauled before the 9/11 Commission to answer questions about what he knew about Logan's lapses, and specifically what he did about them, before that fateful day. It's a reasonable request - especially since Kerry has complained that President Bush will only give the panel an hour of his time.

Where was Kerry's sense of urgency? Where was his leadership? These are fair questions to ask of someone vying for Bush's job.

"We don't have to wait for a tragedy to occur to act," Sullivan urged Kerry in his letter. But tragically, that's exactly what happened - at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue, and on both sides of the aisle.

Paul Sperry is a Washington investigative reporter and author of "Crude Politics."