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Potential acts of terror stopped at the checkpoint by the TSA since 2001: 0 ---Edit--- Knitting needles confiscated and grannies fondled: Classified as it per

by huffmsa 10y ago

Potential acts of terror stopped at the checkpoint by the TSA since 2001: 0 ---Edit--- Knitting needles confiscated and grannies fondled: Classified as it pertains to Homeland Security

niij 10y ago
It's there a source for this? I find it hard to believe that some idiot hadn't tried to bring something onboard in the past 15 years.
- huffmsa 10y ago
  They have and they succeeded, the shoe bomber guy and the guy who set his scrotum on fire.
  - pavel_lishin 10y ago
    How is the shoe-bomber-guy a TSA success story?
    - huffmsa 10y ago
      He's not. Those two are really the only AQ tied incidents since 9/11 and they waltzed right past the TSA.
      - realityking 10y ago
        FWIW the shoe-bomber boarded his flight in Paris. Hard to blame the TSA for not stopping him.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- anubisresources 10y ago
  People have forgotten guns and knives in their luggage that TSA has confiscated, and TSA proudly advertises those numbers. What is noticeably absent is information about any attacks TSA has thwarted. Of course it's possible some attacks have been prevented by deterrence but I doubt that as TSA has a 95℅ failure rate detecting explosives and other weapons[1]. [1] http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/investigation-breaches-us-airports-allowed-weapons-through-n367851 http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/investigation-breaches-u... Slate has another article from 2010 you might enjoy http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2010/11/does_the_tsa_ever_catch_terrorists.html http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/20...
  - 15thandwhatever 10y ago
    I don't get why we hold TSA to a higher standard than what they are: security guards. Security guards don't go trumpeting how many bank robberies they've thwarted, because they simply don't know. However, they will tell you about all the contraband they've confiscated simply because that's measurable.
    - huffmsa 10y ago
      The TSA has to justify its obscene budget and perpetual scandal. Their justification is that they stop hundreds of bits of contraband (of which they control the definition) daily in the ongoing war on terror.
- LukaAl 10y ago
  No actually when the department of Homeland security conducted an undercover test, TSA detected the whopping number of 3 undercover agents... They failed to detect the other 67 who were able to embark planes with weapons end explosives[0]. But that's just a detail... You know, these agents were instructed to avoid TSA screening. Who trains to do that in the real world, right? [sarcasm] [0] http://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-undercover-dhs-tests-find-widespread-security-failures/story?id=31434881 http://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-undercover-dhs-tests-find...
- jasonkostempski 10y ago
  Idiots bringing things on planes, by accident or on purpose, doesn't make them terrorists.
mike-cardwell 10y ago
Unfortunately, we don't know how many attacks were not even attempted because of the existence and actions of the TSA. Them merely being there and doing these checks in these ways may very well have stopped many attempts to smuggle things on board.
- huffmsa 10y ago
  A person with truly bad intentions would just set off his demo kit in line at the checkpoint. Pick the right time and you get a few hundred casualties and shutdown US air travel for a few days.
- GordonS 10y ago
  Reminds me of the Tiger preventing rock from an old Simpsons episode - if you don't see any tigers, it must be working :) Surely if terrorists had wanted to undertake an airline attack and were put off by the TSA presence, they would simply have hit an easier target? There are plenty of public spaces with a lot of people around, malls etc, or even inside the airport itself? The fact that we don't see attacks is surely more likely to mean that there just aren't many such people on US soil with the means and motive?

by huffmsa 10y ago

Potential acts of terror stopped at the checkpoint by the TSA since 2001: 0 ---Edit--- Knitting needles confiscated and grannies fondled: Classified as it pertains to Homeland Security

niij 10y ago

It's there a source for this? I find it hard to believe that some idiot hadn't tried to bring something onboard in the past 15 years.

huffmsa 10y ago
They have and they succeeded, the shoe bomber guy and the guy who set his scrotum on fire.
- pavel_lishin 10y ago
  How is the shoe-bomber-guy a TSA success story?
  - huffmsa 10y ago
    He's not. Those two are really the only AQ tied incidents since 9/11 and they waltzed right past the TSA.
    - realityking 10y ago
      FWIW the shoe-bomber boarded his flight in Paris. Hard to blame the TSA for not stopping him.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
anubisresources 10y ago
People have forgotten guns and knives in their luggage that TSA has confiscated, and TSA proudly advertises those numbers. What is noticeably absent is information about any attacks TSA has thwarted. Of course it's possible some attacks have been prevented by deterrence but I doubt that as TSA has a 95℅ failure rate detecting explosives and other weapons[1]. [1] http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/investigation-breaches-us-airports-allowed-weapons-through-n367851 http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/investigation-breaches-u... Slate has another article from 2010 you might enjoy http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2010/11/does_the_tsa_ever_catch_terrorists.html http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/20...
- 15thandwhatever 10y ago
  I don't get why we hold TSA to a higher standard than what they are: security guards. Security guards don't go trumpeting how many bank robberies they've thwarted, because they simply don't know. However, they will tell you about all the contraband they've confiscated simply because that's measurable.
  - huffmsa 10y ago
    The TSA has to justify its obscene budget and perpetual scandal. Their justification is that they stop hundreds of bits of contraband (of which they control the definition) daily in the ongoing war on terror.
LukaAl 10y ago
No actually when the department of Homeland security conducted an undercover test, TSA detected the whopping number of 3 undercover agents... They failed to detect the other 67 who were able to embark planes with weapons end explosives[0]. But that's just a detail... You know, these agents were instructed to avoid TSA screening. Who trains to do that in the real world, right? [sarcasm] [0] http://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-undercover-dhs-tests-find-widespread-security-failures/story?id=31434881 http://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-undercover-dhs-tests-find...
jasonkostempski 10y ago
Idiots bringing things on planes, by accident or on purpose, doesn't make them terrorists.

mike-cardwell 10y ago

Unfortunately, we don't know how many attacks were not even attempted because of the existence and actions of the TSA. Them merely being there and doing these checks in these ways may very well have stopped many attempts to smuggle things on board.

huffmsa 10y ago
A person with truly bad intentions would just set off his demo kit in line at the checkpoint. Pick the right time and you get a few hundred casualties and shutdown US air travel for a few days.
GordonS 10y ago
Reminds me of the Tiger preventing rock from an old Simpsons episode - if you don't see any tigers, it must be working :) Surely if terrorists had wanted to undertake an airline attack and were put off by the TSA presence, they would simply have hit an easier target? There are plenty of public spaces with a lot of people around, malls etc, or even inside the airport itself? The fact that we don't see attacks is surely more likely to mean that there just aren't many such people on US soil with the means and motive?