October 13, 2008, - 1:33 pm
Tough Sh-t, America: TSA Forgets the “S” in TSA Yet Again
By Debbie Schlussel
After almost a decade of writing about the repeated security screw-ups of the TSA, I really think that the acronym really stands for “Tough Sh-t, America!” instead of “Transportation Security Administration.”
After all, while they hound us over a tube of toothpaste, while letting Ahmed and Mohammed pass quickly into the airport, they’re continuing the security foul-ups that make us unsafe.
And as I’ve repeatedly noted on this site, the TSA still does not screen airport employees, even though there are a ton of Muslim airport employees who don’t exactly love America. Detroit Metro Airport is swimming with ’em.
This latest TSA screw-up combines all of these factors:
The agency overseeing security at the nation’s airports failed for years to track security passes and uniforms of former employees, creating widespread vulnerability to terrorists, says a government watchdog report obtained by USA TODAY.
The Transportation Security Administration lacked centralized controls over the secure passes issued to some of its employees, according to Department of Homeland Security Inspector General Richard Skinner. The passes grant people access to the most sensitive areas of an airport, such as where baggage is screened or planes are parked.
Investigators found numerous cases in which former employees retained their passes long after they had left the agency.
The investigation also found that TSA uniforms were frequently not collected when employees left or were transferred.
People using improper badges, IDs or uniforms – particularly in combination – “could significantly increase an airport’s vulnerability to unauthorized access and, potentially, a wide variety of terrorist and criminal acts,” the report said.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said the findings confirm his fears that there is inadequate oversight of who gets into airports. “The risk of unauthorized access to the secure areas of our airports is unacceptable,” Thompson said in a statement.
Thompson supported legislation that increased scrutiny of airport workers after employees were caught smuggling weapons and drugs into secure areas.
Hmmm . . . all of this makes me wonder if the TSA took Sadeq Naji Ahmed‘s security pass and uniform. How about that of Bassam Khalaf?
Don’t bet on it.
So what does incompetent clown and TSA chief Kip Hawley–who managed to keep his job in the Bush Administration despite foul-up after foul-up and PC-pander to extremist Muslims after PC pander–have to say about this gaping hole in TSA security?
We believe the . . . report overstates deficiencies as well as any potential associated security risk.
Typical.
Good Luck, America. Or rather, Tough Sh-t America.
I was once at a restaurant, where behind the cash register was sitting an airport security pass that an airport employee had left there. The owner put it up there so the rightful owner of that pass could come and pick it up. I mentioned to someone there that they should make a phone call to the sheriff as that was a security problem by just leaving that pass there.
rickster on October 13, 2008 at 2:15 pm