9/11 Was Reagan's Fault (Barf Alert!)

St. Paul Pioneer Press ^ | 4/21/04 | Tom O'Mara

[brbethke]

9/11 silver bullet

There is a "silver bullet" for 9/11.

President Reagan signed an executive order in 1981 that required "cost-benefit justification for new federal regulations." Presidents Bush, Clinton and Bush endorsed this policy.

Result: America's airports got "lowest cost security," and 19 murderers got through security with box cutters, an item banned by FAA in 1994 from secure areas.

Billie Vincent was top security executive at the Federal Aviation Administration in 1991. He wanted FAA to limit carryon luggage to one small bag. He said, "We can make the haystack smaller or the needle larger."

If FAA had followed Billie Vincent's advice in 1991, even poorly trained security people would have found those box cutters. The (New York) towers would still stand, and 3,000 would not have been murdered if passenger convenience had not trumped passenger security and safety at America's airports.

TOM O'MARA
Stacy, Minn.

[Howlin]

Whoops........they were NOT both legal; the Leatherman was!

[Porterville]

I thaught it was Justice Marshall's fault.... damn.

[Porterville]

William Henry Harrison

It was that damn long speech's fault

[cwb]

Wow. I just bought one of those last week to keep in my car for emergencies.

Steve:

Apparently, small blades or knifes under 4 inches were legal (including the Leatherman)...but according to a 1994 airline manual, box cutters and pepper spray were supposed to be prohibited. This prohibition was at the behest of the airliners, themselves...not the FAA. I have a feeling that because this wasn't an FAA/government enforced regulation, it wasn't strictly followed.

[Porterville]

&nbs&nbs

James K. Polk &ddddnbsdddddd Zachary Taylor

It was the Mexican's fault

[BlackRazor]

What about Leatherman-type tools? On FoxNews last night, they reported that they now believe that's what the terrorists used, as opposed to box-cutters.

[cwb]

Leatherman tools were fine. In fact, there is some inconsistency in what the airliners prohibited and what the FAA allowed. According to FAA guidelines, prior to 9/11, enclosed knifes under 4 inches were allowed. If they did indeed use the Leatherman tool, than there is nothing nobody could've really done...since they were legal.

[Kozak]

Kind of stupid to ban a box cutter, but allow me to carry on a Leatherman tool with a 4 inch razor sharp blade. then again it's stupid to cavity search 80 year old ladies, when the problem is young Muslim males. Kind of a lack of seeing the "big picture".

[Kozak]

Anyone care to go further back?

I blame Adam, for not doing a better job of supervising his wife...