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What's with all these references to al Qaeda? No realistic amount of prescreening can alleviate this threat when al Qaeda is working to recruit "clean" agents

What's with all these references to al Qaeda? No realistic amount of prescreening can alleviate this threat when al Qaeda is working to recruit "clean" agents al Qaeda's advancing skill with hydrogen-peroxide-based bombs... etc, etc. After 10+ years of war, the al Qaeda of 9/11 is pretty much finished. The organization can barely survive in Afghanistan and are being picked off by drones in Yemen. Realistically, al Qaeda is a defunct organization, and this article repeadly mentions al Qaeda like it's some eternal bogeyman. This distraction tactic is to drive attention away from the fact the methods for "How To Fix The TSA" merely reinforce the status quo. None of the former head of the TSA's 5 suggestions reduce wait times or make the experience of flying more pleasant. You _still_ have to take off your shoes and get scanned or patted down. There's _still_ going to be that person at the head of the line who scribbles on your boarding pass after checking your ID. I would like to see a radical rethink of airport security, something that would put a smile on the face of the passengers and the security officers.

javert 15y ago
Given what the TSA has become, I can't believe people are willing to take seriously an article written by a former TSA head. These people are not our friends.
taligent 15y ago
That last line made me laugh. As if the security officers would have a smile after having to deal all day with the douchebag anti-TSA nerds who deliberately try to make life more difficult. I am sick of flying and having them holding up lines and generally being a nuisance. How about you sort them out first ?
tkahn6 15y ago
> Realistically, al Qaeda is a defunct organization Based on what actual evidence? Al Qaeda has pulled off attacks in Africa and other countries besides Afghanistan and Yemen. It's a distributed organization and ideology. I'm not saying this isn't true (I would like it to be), but claims like this sound like wishful thinking. As though Westerners cannot fathom a reason why other groups of people would want to kill them and so it surely must be a 'boogeyman'. Your statements read as though you're trying to convince yourself. This is not an argument for the TSA (if that wasn't clear). It is possible for Al Qaeda to be a threat and for the TSA to be an inappropriate way to deal with that threat.

javert 15y ago

Given what the TSA has become, I can't believe people are willing to take seriously an article written by a former TSA head. These people are not our friends.

taligent 15y ago

That last line made me laugh. As if the security officers would have a smile after having to deal all day with the douchebag anti-TSA nerds who deliberately try to make life more difficult. I am sick of flying and having them holding up lines and generally being a nuisance. How about you sort them out first ?

tkahn6 15y ago

> Realistically, al Qaeda is a defunct organization Based on what actual evidence? Al Qaeda has pulled off attacks in Africa and other countries besides Afghanistan and Yemen. It's a distributed organization and ideology. I'm not saying this isn't true (I would like it to be), but claims like this sound like wishful thinking. As though Westerners cannot fathom a reason why other groups of people would want to kill them and so it surely must be a 'boogeyman'. Your statements read as though you're trying to convince yourself. This is not an argument for the TSA (if that wasn't clear). It is possible for Al Qaeda to be a threat and for the TSA to be an inappropriate way to deal with that threat.