Ahhhhhhhh!!!!! If only we had known Logan and other airports had problems!!! If only John Kerry had told us!!!! IT'S ALL HIS FAULT FOR NOT TELLING US ABOUT THE THREAT, AND NOT FIXING IT!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!
1. As was accurately noted earlier, WorldNetDaily IS A CONSERVATIVE RAG. Look at their home page -- it exclusively features an entire stable of conservative writers, editorials, and stories. Anyone who believes this story is a balanced, objective attempt to evaluate the matter is a fool.
2. Last time I checked, SENATORS HAVE NO JURISDICTION OVER AVIATION SECURITY. That's the FAA's charter.
3. IF ONLY KERRY HAD TOLD US OF THE DANGER!!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Actually, any non-dumb*ss who reads the newspaper was quite familiar with airport security deficiencies across the country, including Logan, all of which fall under the jurisdiction of the FAA.
Sorry, I don't have a conservative attack rag to refer to, so I'll have to settle for this Wall Street Journal article from 9/12/01:
"That fall, the Boston Globe reported that FAA special agents found at least 136 security violations at Logan from 1997 through 1999. As a result, the FAA reportedly fined major airlines and Massport $178,000."
"Government agencies have long warned about lax U.S. airport security screening, something that frequent fliers see on a regular basis."
"...but authorities have long raised alarms about security, with little action taken to tighten airport procedures."
"Just last year (2000), in an almost prophetic warning, the General Accounting Office said airport security hadn't improved, and in many cases had worsened."
"The Federal Aviation Administration was already moving to tighten screening standards; in fact, new rules were supposed to be issued next week (in Sept. 2001)."
"The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, identified two important causes for security lapses at checkpoints: rapid turnover of screening personnel and inadequate attention to human factors. From May 1998 through April 1999, turnover more than doubled on average among screeners at 19 large U.S. airports; five airports (Atlanta, BOST0N, Chicago, Houston and St. Louis) had annual turnover of more than 200%."
"The FAA has moved to address GAO-identified shortcomings, the GAO said, but slowly. For instance, the FAA last year (2000) was still planning to establish performance standards that screening companies would have to meet to earn and retain certification, an action the GAO recommended in 1987."
"In 1999, the FAA became so concerned about lax security at the nation's major airports that it threatened to force the airlines to post guards at every airplane. At the time, the FAA said that federal agents were able to sneak 46 times through security doors at four major airports and then walk around on the tarmac. They also boarded 51 planes unchallenged. In response, the FAA ordered increased security at 70 of the largest airports and announced that it would run exercises to test for holes in security....In the following months, FAA officials said significant improvements were made at all of the airports, but at the same time, they stressed that vigilance on the part of every employee was necessary if security was to work."
*$%@&* KERRY!! IF ONLY HE HAD TOLD US OF THE DEFICIENCIES (that had already been widely reported in the newspapers)!!! IF ONLY HE HAD STOPPED IT (by commandeering the FAA, a federal agency)!!! IF ONLY HE HAD MADE CHANGES PRIOR TO 9/11 (which had already been widely studied and partially implemented by the FAA by then)!!!! IT'S ALL KERRY'S FAULT!!!!
http://www.dowjones.com/Pulitzer/pulitzer_2002/staff_911/staff4.html
[ March 19, 2004, 06:07 PM: Message edited by: TC ]
