Webloggin » Al Qaeda Bets on Holes in Security, U.S. Agencies Oblige

What Gun? What would you do if you were working as an airport security screener and a Middle Eastern man entered the area with hollowed out shoes, a clock with a 9-volt battery attached to it and laptop computer in your luggage which you declared you didn’t have in the first place?

The report states that a man with a Middle Eastern name and a ticket for a Delta Airlines flight to Atlanta shook his head when screeners asked if he had a laptop computer in his baggage, but an X-ray machine operator detected a laptop.

A search of the man’s baggage revealed a clock with a 9-volt battery taped to it and a copy of the Quran, the report said. A screener examined the man’s shoes and determined that the “entire soles of both shoes were gutted out.”

Well, if you are a certain Houston Police officer you would clear the guy for entry onto the plane; after which you deride the TSA screener with “I thought y’all were trained in this stuff”.

A TSA screener disagreed with the officer, saying “the shoes had been tampered with and there were all the components of (a bomb) except the explosive itself,” the report says.

The officer retorted, “I thought y’all were trained in this stuff,” TSA officials reported.

What is the problem with the law enforcement agencies of this country that cover up rather than admit their mistakes? We will never win this war on terror if lessons learned are buried in a politically motivated game of CYA. Own the mistake, correct the problem and live to discuss it another day.

“Our job is not to be the gatekeepers,” police Capt. Dwayne Ready said.”That burden falls squarely on the airline and TSA to make that final decision.”

Just for once I’d like to see someone say, “We made a mistake and we are going to correct it so that this doesn’t happen in the future.”

But no. Instead we get to witness a pissing contest between the TSA screeners, the Houston Police and the FBI who deemed it a “non-event”.

Some “non-event”, give me a break! The only non-event here is the cooperation between the people who should be working together to protect this country.

Come on here, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out! Al-Qaeda is in the middle of testing out various ways to circumvent security. The last thing we need is a turf war at those gates. These people need to get their heads out of their asses before someone else gets killed. Stop making excuses.

The admission that there is a dispute over who has authority to detain this man speaks volumes about the inept leadership at the Houston Police department and the TSA. It has been 5 years since 9-11, get your act together or get the hell out of the way.

I tell you what, instead of firing or reassigning the officer perhaps we would be better off firing the people who have politicized these agencies to the point of where accountability stops at the officer on the ground.

Hat Tip - Michelle Malkin

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