RSS Feed MenuFor an administration that seems at times to be down on the CIA, its new national security policies rely heavily on the intelligence community. The new policies center on airline regulations and guidelines on the status of newly captured terrorists.
The new airline regulations will screen passengers with certain personal characteristics that match the latest intelligence information; yet, eliminate the screening of passengers whose flights originate in 14 terrorist haven countries.
By taking away the other screening methods a greater burden falls on the intelligence community to always get it correct. A CIA operative explained that the terrorists will send people who are inconsistent with the intelligence leads. The real problem is the individuals that are unknown. Former CIA Director Michael Hayden emphatically noted to FrumForum that “We cannot depend on this because you are betting the farm that your intelligence is exquisite. You would need all the thought lines and all the profiles of the people they are throwing at you, and that is a dangerous assumption.”
TerryF98 // Apr 24, 2010 at 11:08 am
If they are “Unknown” then they are unknown!!!!
sinz54 // Apr 24, 2010 at 11:29 am
TerryF98:
If even ONE large-scale terrorist attack takes place in America now,
Obama is toast.
Just wanted to remind you of what the stakes are.
TerryF98 // Apr 24, 2010 at 11:53 am
Sinz I fully realize that.
You see we as patriotic liberals supported Bush after 9/11. You will see that from his approval ratings after that event.
I also understand that Conservatives will do exactly the opposite, they will unpatriotically condemn the president not support him. They will levy blame rather than come together for the sake of the country. The outcry will be palpable and angry.
You see the right has no shame whasoever. I understand that.
rbottoms // Apr 24, 2010 at 3:48 pm
You see we as patriotic liberals supported Bush after 9/11. You will see that from his approval ratings after that event.
I also understand that Conservatives will do exactly the opposite, they will unpatriotically condemn the president not support him. They will levy blame rather than come together for the sake of the country. The outcry will be palpable and angry.
You see the right has no shame whasoever. I understand that.
Preach it.
Bastards.
JonF // Apr 24, 2010 at 4:07 pm
Re: yet, eliminate the screening of passengers whose destinations originate in 14 terrorist haven countries.
Am I missing something in the above? How can someone’s destination originate anywhere? A destination is where you are at the end of a trip, not at the beginning.
Rabiner // Apr 24, 2010 at 6:37 pm
He means ‘people who originate from 14 countries’ not destination. Granted profiling from these 14 nations isn’t going to catch terrorists. They’re rather moving to what El Al does which is profile individuals based on characteristics and behavior rather than simply home country. Makes sense and better diverts our limited resources to attempting to find actual terrorists as opposed to this one size fits all method of profiling.
TerryF98 // Apr 24, 2010 at 7:14 pm
“Am I missing something in the above? How can someone’s destination originate anywhere? A destination is where you are at the end of a trip, not at the beginning.”
Everything that Elise Cooper writes is disjointed, she usually uses “anonymous sources” and is full of Neocon BS.
Hope that explains it.
msmilack // Apr 25, 2010 at 12:54 pm
Interesting article, Elise. Just curious: is it possible to interview someone who currently works in the CIA instead of Hayden who used to work there? And also, is the CIA the only agency in charge of this or are there other parts of Homeland Security in charge? I get confused where the roles overlap. Pardon my ignorance.
jakester // Apr 25, 2010 at 12:54 pm
Another reality denying policy to pander to the PC crowd.
msmilack // Apr 25, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Also: I read a few months ago that the US wanted to model the Israeli security system (highly successful) where everyone who works in the airport is trained to observe behavior. I wonder if the US is starting to put that into effect.
sinz54 // Apr 25, 2010 at 1:30 pm
Terry F98:
Let me explain it to you:
In World War II, Germans and Japanese were treated as enemy aliens. They were kept under surveillance at all times, and the FBI would politely take them back to port and put them back on ships to go back to their home countries.
We’re at war against Islamist terrorists who hail from countries like Saudi Arabia (Osama himself came from there). We should treat anyone from these countries as specially worrisome.
Remember, NONE of the 9-11 hijackers was an American citizen. They were all Saudis, except for one from the UAR. If we hadn’t allowed Saudis to board domestic American aircraft, 9-11 would not have happened.
Bottom line: No Muslims, no Muslim terrorism.
We can’t go that far.
But we can sure crack down on those Muslims of Saudi citizenry, since we KNOW we were already attacked by some of them.
jreb // Apr 25, 2010 at 9:20 pm
One of the most perplexing aspects of this announcement raises the question, why are we (the U.S.) publicly announcing this change to the screening of foreign air passengers? I am sure that those who wish to do us harm appreciate the “heads up” on what our emphasis will become. I can only imagine that (a) that these guidelines are a “trojan horse” designed to misled terrorists, (b) an attempt by DHS to cover their rear end in case of another terrorist attempt, or (c) that we think that by announcing our latest guidelines that we will frustrate terrorists and they will cease their attempts to attack using the air transportation system. I can only hope the answer is (a).
Mandos // Apr 25, 2010 at 10:42 pm
We can’t go that far.
Oh, why not?
But we can sure crack down on those Muslims of Saudi citizenry, since we KNOW we were already attacked by some of them.
Since white people would never blow up buildings, oh no.
Rabiner // Apr 25, 2010 at 10:53 pm
Sinz54:
Racial profiling isn’t effective in stopping terrorism. Using other methods similar to what Israel does with El Al is far more effective and doesn’t deal with racially profiling. Behaviors are better indicators than country of origin in finding the next potential terrorist.