TSA More Trouble than Help in Stopping Terrrorists

(Janet and A Full Body Scan. Pictures from drudgereport.com)

We All Knew What Would Happen to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

When President Bush compromised with the Democrats and let them require that TSA employees be government employees, we all knew it would become a bloated, self-serving, ineffective, and dysfunctional agency.

It was proven when we started to fly again after 9/11. We saw idiotic procedures, lazy, shuffling, TSA Agents wondering around doing nothing. And when we spoke to them, most were either surly and disrespectful or dumb as a post like one of Red Skelton’s characters. Flyers insulted, abused, embarrassed, and made to wait while TSA agents gossipped and ate and ate. The incompetent, unqualified, and untrained TSA Agents became as nasty as the worst of the Motor Vehicle Department employees. Public service and courtesy were not part of their training.

No young, bearded men from the Middle East were pulled out of line searched, patted down, and made to undress, nope. But they gave grandmas and harried working men a hard time, delays, and useless searches. TSA spent so much time being politically correct and inspecting Americans that they knew weren’t terrorists and wouldn’t complain, that they continually missed shoe bombers, panty bombers, and who knows how many sleeper jihad agents hiding in America right now. It is politically correct to detain, pat down, and search a 70 year old grandma from Peoria. It is not politically correct to detain and search surly, young, bearded men from the Middle East. Oh no, that would be profiling. Better to let untold thousands of Americans die unimaginable cruel and horrible deaths than to offend an Islamic jihadist or his silent supporters who routinely contribute money and cover to the cause of killing Americans.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) now wants to use scanners on Americans. Look at the picture above and imagine what the TSA agents will be seeing in a year or so when better and better technology comes along. I say TSA should use these scanners on foreigners seeking to enter the US and traveling within the US. They should not be used on ordinary American citizens without probable cause.

A Modest Proposal- TSA Puts America First

All TSA agents take rigid physical and mental qualifications tests and the unfit removed from government employment. Those that passed the test should undergo boot camp-like training at Quantico to get them if physical shape and train them how to take down a suspect. The existing FBI Profiling Unit at Quantico should be expanded to include terrorist profiling and all TSA agents should have periodic terrorist identification refresher courses. All TSA agents would then profile all flyers for potential terrorists.

How about TSA cooperates with foreign governments to do our own screening on the asphalt after the regular airport screening but just before boarding Flights to the US? Here we could form two lines, one for US citizens who would undergo routine screenings and one for foreigners who would undergo extensive search, including all luggage and full body scans. Fingerprints and high resolution photographs, and DNS samples would be collected from all foreigners. Anyone, foreign or American on a no fly list would be escorted back to the local authorities.

A similar setup of two lines could be set up in the US; one for citizens with normal screening and one for foreigners with more intensive searches and full body scans. Again, fingerprints and high resolution photographs, and DNS samples would be collected from all foreigners.

A large and well trained K-9 division of TSA should screen all passengers with special, intensive screening of foreigners seeking to fly to the US and traveling within the US. All travelers profiled as likely terrorists should receive intensive inspection by the K-9 agents before and after whole body screening and regular physical searches. All luggage should be screened by K-9 agents as well.

But, sadly authority for the TSA runs downhill from Obama & Congress, and DHS head Janet Neapolitan. As long as the joker is running things, sensible protection of Americans will not happen.