CNN, 20 May 2010: A new report by the Government Accountability Office says behavior detection techniques failed to lead authorities to at least 16 alleged terrorists who traveled through U.S. airports. The Transportation Security Administration’s program to use special officers to spot suspicious behavior began in 2003, but the GAO questions the scientific basis and effectiveness of the techniques.
The unclassified version of the report released Thursday did not name the suspected terrorists who the GAO says were able to pass 23 times through airports where behavior detection officers work. But officials involved in crafting the report said the cases included that of Najibullah Zazi, a Denver shuttle driver who authorities said plotted to set off bombs in New York City’s subway system. Zazi pleaded guilty to providing material support to al Qaeda. The officials said the TSA also missed David Headley, who pleaded guilty to scouting targets for the 2008 Mumbai, India, terror attacks and flew out of the U.S. to do his reconnaissance. . . .
New York Times, 17 May 2010: Third time’s the charm? President Obama on Monday made his third try to fill the vacant chair atop one of the government’s primary security agencies, this time picking someone who may have an easier time passing the F.B.I. background check – the deputy director of the F.B.I.
The president announced that he will nominate John S. Pistole, the number two official at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to take over the Transportation Security Administration, which oversees airport passenger screening. With Mr. Obama’s first two choices withdrawing after revelations of past behavior, the T.S.A. has been without an Obama appointee heading it for 16 months since he took office.
“The talent and knowledge John has acquired in more than two decades of service with the F.B.I. will make him a valuable asset to our administration’s efforts to strengthen the security and screening measures at our airports,” Mr. Obama said in a statement announcing Mr. Pistole’s nomination. . . .
HS Today, 24 March 2010: Retired Army Maj. Gen. Robert Harding vowed to continue to make the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) more intelligence-driven and to revamp training for its screeners to improve their abilities to collect and act on intelligence in the first of his two confirmation hearings Tuesday. If confirmed as the TSA chief, Harding said he would continue to drive the agency’s processes by intelligence, putting an emphasis on information rather than over-relying on physical screening. “In a choice between pure risk avoidance and being informed by intelligence, I would prefer to be informed by intelligence,” Harding told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. In so doing, the TSA would work closely with the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as well as agencies within the US Intelligence Community, Harding said. . . .
Times of London, 12 March 2010: Rajib Karim, 30, a British Airways computer specialist charged with planning a suicide bombing, had volunteered to work as cabin crew during strike action at the airline, a court heard yesterday. . . .
. . . .Colin Gibbs, for the prosecution, said Mr Karim had offered to pass on information gleaned from cabin crew training — which the airline made available to company volunteers so that services could be kept running during a strike. He said that Mr Karim had offered advice to overseas contacts about how to overcome airport security, including details of liquid allowances on aircraft, security scanners and the questions asked by immigration officials.
The charges state that Mr Karim remained in Britain to obtain a passport, got a job with BA and gathered information useful to terrorists in Yemen. The terror fundraising charge alleges that he collected money which was sent to Yemen and Bangladesh to further terrorist acts, including suicide bombing. Further allegations relate to an attack on BA’s computers to cause the company financial losses. . . . .
Fox News/Phoenix, 8 March 2010: A recent legal case in Hawaii revealed hundreds of illegal aliens have traveled on U.S. airlines using cheap, low quality fake IDs. But while most illegals are not much of a security threat, what does that say about day-to-day TSA screening? FOX’s William Lajeunesse went undercover, to see just how easy it was.
