{"id":116927,"date":"2009-12-30T18:49:24","date_gmt":"2009-12-30T23:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/seattletimes.nwsource.com\/html\/northwestvoices\/2010642238_christmasdayclosecallampsupairportregulations.html?syndication=rss"},"modified":"2009-12-30T18:49:24","modified_gmt":"2009-12-30T23:49:24","slug":"christmas-day-close-call-amps-up-airport-regulations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/116927","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Day close call amps up airport regulations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bravery and luck saved Northwest Flight 253 passengers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Homeland Security Department\u2019s and Transportation Security Administration\u2019s knee-jerk reaction to the terrorist who hoped to kill 250 people is like adding injury to insult [\u201cTSA post mired in politics,\u201d News, Dec. 29].<\/p>\n

Just luck and brave passengers saved those air passengers; not any security element played a part.<\/p>\n

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab should have been the one going through pat-down security measures, not the traveling public inside the United States, after the fact.<\/p>\n

Why doesn\u2019t the TSA profile people who are possible terrorists before something happens, instead of afterward when they treat all passengers as would-be criminals?<\/p>\n

Who have they ever caught?<\/p>\n

Taking away nail clippers, too much hand lotion or toothpaste don\u2019t count toward combating terrorists who mean to kill Americans.<\/p>\n

Janet Napolitano, an amateur, should resign from secretary of Homeland Security Department because her leadership is really bad, and she doesn\u2019t seem to have a clue how the organization should work.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Jim Henderson, Walla Walla<\/em><\/p>\n

Toenail clippers and mini scissors just don\u2019t cut it<\/strong><\/p>\n

Homeland Security Department and Transportation Security Administration have again learned the wrong lesson from the latest airplane bomb threat.<\/p>\n

One voice of reason was Ken Dunlap of the International Air Transportation Association: \u201cWe\u2019ve spent eight years looking for little scissors and toenail clippers; perhaps the emphasis should be looking for bad people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional screening and explosives testing were not used on Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab because they are reserved for \u201ctravelers who trigger added scrutiny.\u201d How is it that a young Muslim male, traveling alone on a one-way ticket purchased with cash, whose father had warned of his son\u2019s growing militancy, did not trigger added scrutiny?<\/p>\n

I never get through the metal detector without a thorough pat-down \u2014 because I have an artificial hip \u2014 and my carry-on luggage is always tested for explosives.<\/p>\n

Something is fundamentally wrong when rigid security procedures force agents to spend 10-15 minutes on innocent travelers and 10 seconds on people like Abdulmutallab.<\/p>\n

Dunlap is right; start focusing on dangerous people. Until we do, we will be no safer and will continue to reinforce the terrorist\u2019s goal of making us feel ever more harassed, threatened and fearful.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Matt Brislawn, Newcastle<\/em><\/p>\n

Proactive and innovative solutions to stop terrorists<\/strong><\/p>\n

We need proactive and innovative solutions \u2014 we are at war with terrorists [\u201cAirliner plot raises fears about al-Qaida in Yemen,\u201d News, Dec. 28].<\/p>\n

Airport security is not entirely working in the U.S. Thorough screening was used by the British to stop the Nigerian man from traveling. Our passengers seem to be stopping terrorists more than our security devices.<\/p>\n

For 30 years, Israel has used behavioral patterns and special techniques to deter terrorists. We can learn from their expertise.<\/p>\n

Our Homeland Security is failing badly and needs improvement. Why don\u2019t we track Americans who travel frequently to terrorist countries? Our intelligence system needs revamping and the various components need to communicate with each other.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Mark Litchman, Olympia<\/em><\/p>\n

How do you spell security?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let me see if I have this right: A Northwest agent fails to do his\/her job properly. The FBI, as usual, doesn\u2019t do theirs [\u201cBomb plot exposes air security weaknesses,\u201d page one, Dec. 28].<\/p>\n

We will now spend more of our tax dollars on ridiculous new equipment and hours more in long lines at the airport.<\/p>\n

Yes, America, this is the way we spell security.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Dave Barber, Maple Valley<\/em><\/p>\n

Fragile, handle with care<\/strong><\/p>\n

So inch by inch, we lose our freedom on airlines because someone or some people want to show the world how pathetic they are.<\/p>\n

Seems to me they\u2019re winning this propaganda war; every time something happens in an airplane or airport, we lose more freedom. More screens, more strip-downs, more of everything these so-called terrorists want to happen.<\/p>\n

People need to stand up for the right of freedom, not just in speaking but in travel. We pay more every six months when the airlines raise prices, but we lose more of our freedom on the airlines.<\/p>\n

Should we just tag ourselves with \u201cFragile, handle with care\u201d and wait for the UPS man to show up?<\/p>\n

\u2014 Justin Carroll, Fort Collins, Colo.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bravery and luck saved Northwest Flight 253 passengers Homeland Security Department\u2019s and Transportation Security Administration\u2019s knee-jerk reaction to the terrorist who hoped to kill 250 people is like adding injury to insult [\u201cTSA post mired in politics,\u201d News, Dec. 29]. Just luck and brave passengers saved those air passengers; not any security element played a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116927\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}