Posted on 12/13/2007 9:49:45 AM PST by saganite
On first pass, it's funny.
It was reported that two newspaper investigators in Romania, dressed up in ramp uniforms emblazoned with "Al Qaeda Airways", had no problem penetrating not only the civil portions of Bucharest Airport but also the military areas as well. They planted phony bombs in various spots, and essentially had their way with the facility. The uniforms were a particularly nice touch.
But on reflection, this is another warning call for US security. Inquiring minds wanted to know if this could happen here. The answer: bank on it. Not likely at smaller airports, but at a large one, security is a sieve. Therefore, what took place in Bucharest is another wake-up call for US airport security.
Fact: illegal aliens have been found working in secure areas at Washington/Dulles - remember, that's the airport where an airliner was hijacked on 9/11. At ORD, illegals with phony IDs were found working in secure areas, too. Think that couldn't be a conduit for a terrorist event? We have a President and Congress that're all bent out of shape over Iraq, but are at one in not wanting to close the Mexican border to prevent entry of Mex-Mafia, criminal gangs, and, yes, terrorists.
Fact: Forget the airport perimeter, as even screening points for passengers are now hopelessly compromised. It's no secret that there are failures of screeners to find test objects - upwards of 90% in some cases - not to mention that TSA management has been caught doctoring tests by warning checkpoints in advance - just like the FAA was doing before 9/11.
Toss in factors such as a near-total lack of security awareness training, few, if any threat identification programs, no event mitigation or contingency planning, and add it to the fact that even passenger screening is a sloppy mess, and it's difficult to claim that we're secure.
So, even though the story's about an event at a place most Americans can't find on a map, it must still give us pause to consider whether a similar media stunt could succeed at LAX or JFK or DEN. And whether that stunt could be carried out by real terrorists.
The fact is that it could. And that's another warning.
Here's a point made by Steve Elson, a former FAA Security Red Team Inspector who's been at the forefront of illuminating the lack of professional security planning at US airports:
"Remember that TSA has the “Cyclone Fence” mentality of AVSEC. Cyclone fences as you may see around airports, military facilities, etc. are NOT security fences. They can be penetrated (over, under, or through) literally in seconds... They are only there as a line of demarcation to keep GOOD, HONEST, LAW ABIDING CITIZENS OUT. That’s all...
"Kids, drunks, insane, and terrorists can penetrate in seconds. The same is true of TSA checkpoints and “security.” The checkpoints can’t stop any half-witted person who wants to take weapons or explosives through, but they do harass the hell out of honest people, many of whom make the mistake of taking through killer cuticle clippers, ninja nose hair tweezers, or pocket knives (which make no difference).
The point is that what happened in far-off Romania is more than a media curiousity. It again sends a reminder that our system isn't secure. We know that now. And it's being ignored.
We knew it before 9/11, and it was ignored, too. Another Red Team Inspector, Brian Sullivan, desperate to get some attention regarding the danger posed by inept security at Boston Logan, sent the following to Senator John Kerry:
"... Think what the result would be of a coordinated attack that took down several domestic flights on the same day. With our current screening, this is more than possible. It is almost likely..."
That was sent in May, 2001. Kerry's office ignored the warning, eventually telling Sullivan that since he was not a constituent, the Senator was not interested. Four months later two airliners were hijacked at Boston, presumably carrying some of the good Senator's constituents to their unnecessary deaths.
So we can giggle about "Al Qaeda Airways" staff and what happened last week at Bucharest Airport. But that's essentially what we did before 9/11. Make no mistake - what happened there could happen here.
Of course, the PR hacks at TSA, right up to Kip Hawley himself, will disregard this warning. See, their security system, they claim, is multi-layered.
And so's a sheet of Charmin.
What a collosal joke, waste of money, and further evidence that the government is incapable of protecting us from anything.
If I were in charge of TSA, I'd have profilers observing passengers as they queue. I'd pull out nervous ones. I'd pull out anyone with an Islamic name or Arabic appearance.
And by God, If I have any doubt about your intentions, you're not getting on a plane. I don't care about your pocketknife.
The TSA consistenly gets penetrated by agents running tests and carrying prohibited items. They’ll nail you though if your carry on shampoo bottle has 4 ounces of liquid instead of 3 ounces.
LOL! Good grief. I guess he showed them.
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