Posted on 03/13/2002 11:32:04 AM PST by kattracks
You might have thought the Immigration and Naturalization "Service" couldn't possibly be any more inept, but its approval of visas for two of the Sept. 11 hijackers six months after the terrorist attacks brings government incompetence to new lows. And President Bush is said to be furious.
"The president wants to know how and why it happened, and he wants it fixed," White House Deputy Press Secretary Scott McClellan said today.
Bush ordered Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge and Attorney General John Ashcroft to investigate how the student visas for Muslim hijackers Mohamed Atta and Marwan al Shehhi were sent to Huffman Aviation flight school in Venice, Fla.
Since Sept. 11, the Bush administration has been working with the INS to update and computerize the system for issuing and tracking visas, particularly student visas, United Press International reported today.
McClellan called the release of the visas "unacceptable" and said Bush wanted the problems fixed "as quickly as possible."
Huffman Aviation applied for the visas for its two terrorist "students" on Aug. 29, 2000. The INS approved the visa for Atta on July 17, 2001, and the one for al Shehhi Aug. 9, 2001. The visas were mailed March 5 and arrived Monday. (It took the Postal "Service" a whole week to get a letter from D.C. to Florida?!)
The INS called the incident an embarrassment but whined about a backlog of applications that has existed for years.
Ah, government bureaucrats. And these are the people that vote-greedy Democrats and weak-kneed Republicans put in charge of our airport "security."
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Bush Administration
Homeland/Civil Defense
Immigration/Borders
War on Terrorism
Don't forget that for 8 years there was no controling moral/ethical authority in our government. It was a Narcoleptic Presidency, in between scandals.
The rest of it can all wait, have a moritorium in immigration and visas -- only let in those as tourists from countries where they don't need visa - our allies, basically -- until a new organization can be built from the ground up with a law enforcement viewpoint, not a bleeding heart liberal outlook
The INS called the incident an embarrassment but whined about a backlog of applications that has existed for years.
They correctly perceive that a lack of productivity will lead directly to an increase in funding. It’s how the government business works.
If you want real efficiency, fire every single administrator in the department.
You remember Al Gore's Re-Inventing Government. It was the original risky scheme, which made it doubly ironic when Gore used "risky scheme" as his main insult to Governor Bush during the campaign.
Remember how Gore got huge kudos for streamlining the government, and in particular, the INS? What his program did was allow thousands of immigrants to enter the country without background checks so they would gratefully vote for the Clinton/Gore re-election.
Remember Doris Meissner? (of Elian fame?) Well, before that she allowed Gore to totally corrupt the INS. We now know how his meddling sacrificed national security for votes. I keep hoping someone in congress, someone in the media will remind people of just how harmful Al Gore was to national security.
With that said, why the copy intended for the school languished for months at INS with out being sent out, or that the files were not culled for this information during the investigation after September 11, is beyond me.
It is my hope that INS is not just pushing paper these days without seriously checking out what they are approving. If INS is just going about business as usual, serious changes need to be made.
I've been saying for several months that Fat Tommy Ridge is a dope; looks like I was right.
Now we have his "color coded alert" system... what are we supposed to do differently when the threat colors change?
"Now let's see, is yellow worse than orange, or is that better than blue? Oh, I remember cyan is really serious because it's closer to the blue spectrum than magenta." (end sarcasm) Sheeesh!
Since bureaucrats seem to have the same half-life as nuclear waste, they probably are.
There is a rumor that 5 Arab terrorists came across the border near El Paso, each carrying about 60 pounds of dope. They changed the dope for cash, bought 2 high end SUVs, got temporary driver's licences, voted 4 or 5 times a piece in the democrat primary, and headed north to meet guys who had come over in trucks last week. Check their status with INS?
Why? INS knows nothing about them or the estimated 2 million other illegal aliens that snuck across the border. Only now, the illegals are not Mexicans coming north to mow my lawn. They are terrorists, out to destroy us and we are relying on clowns like the INS. SEAL THE FRIGGEN BORDER WHILE WE STILL CAN!!!
I'll betcha that their motor-voter card will arrive next week.
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