The Transport Security Administration spends some $7.3 billion a year ostensibly to protect Americans from terrorists. So, you may ask, how’s it going? Well you could say there haven’t been any terrorist attacks at TSA-guarded facilities so … great! OK, sure, there was that active shooter incident at LAX where the cops were off doing something else and unarmed TSA agents could do sweet FA to stop the bad guy. But aside from that … everything is awesome! On the other hand you might want to consider the Department of Homeland Security “Red Team’s” attempts to smuggle faux guns and fake explosives aboard airplanes. Yeah, well . . .
A recent internal investigation by the Department of Homeland Security has found security failures at dozens of the nations’ busiest airports—breaches that allowed undercover investigators to smuggle weapons, fake explosives and other contraband through numerous checkpoints.
In one case, an alarm sounded, but even during a pat down, the screening officer failed to detect a fake plastic explosive taped to an undercover agent’s back. In all, so-called “Red Teams” of Homeland Security agents posing as passengers were able get weapons past Transportation Security Administration agents in 67 out of 70 tests — a 95 percent failure rate, according to agency officials.
Well that ought to be a wake-up call!
Upon learning the initial findings of the Office of Inspector General’s report, Secretary Jeh Johnson immediately directed TSA to implement a series of actions, several of which are now in place, to address the issues raised, agency officials said.
“The numbers in these reports never look good out of context, but they are a critical element in the continual evolution of our aviation security,” Homeland Security officials said in a statement.
So Jeh says. But can we please know what those “series of actions” are? ‘Cause I’m thinking firing a third of the TSA workforce — focusing on the legions of dopey, overweight blue-shirted goons gathering empty plastic bins — would be an excellent place to start.
I said it before, I’ll say it again. The TSA is nothing more than security theater. We should aim for an Israeli-style bad guy spotting team of experts and … wait for it … allow Americans to carry guns on planes.
Meanwhile, terrorism experts stress that the threat levels remain high.
“There’s a continuing drumbeat of interests by terrorist groups whether Al-Qaeda or Al-Qaeda affiliates to try to bring down a western, especially a U.S. bound aircraft,” Pistole said.
I know! Maybe we should try and intercept terrorists before they get on the plane, just like we did on 9/11! Oh wait . . . [h/t mister3d]