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November 22, 2010
Obama's TSA NOT Allowed To Profile!
TSA Chief: We won’t adopt Israel’s security standards because we don’t profile
WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 (UPI)
The chief of the U.S. Transportation Security Administration John Pistole said Sunday airport screening procedures will not be changed despite public outcry.
In this interview with Candy Crowley, TSA Chief John Pistole said it is obligatory that Americans have to suffer through the embarrasment and invasiveness of pat-downs in the airports.
While he admits that these procedures are uncomfortable, he said the government must do this for our own good.
And in a rare time of honesty, when asked why not adopt Israel’s great security procedures, he replied that they don’t profile.
Isn’t that the problem? All of us have to suffer through these ridiculous procedures, so we don’t offend a certain group.
John Pistole said, "We know that we face a determined enemy who has been adept at devising and concealing explosive devices."
He said he was "very attuned" to objections to full-body scams and patdowns, but, "No, we're not changing the policies, because of that, because of the risks that have been identified because of the current threat in the stream."
"Very few people actually receive the patdown," Pistole said. "In spite of all the public furor about this, very few people do."
In a moment of honesty, TSA Chief Pistole admitted today that Israel has effective security techniques but that we can’t use those techniques here in the US because “we don’t profile.”
Transcript:
CROWLEY: What’s over the line? What’s over the line?
All those things were fine. You saw a woman whose breasts were being felt. You saw a man whose — you know, had another man’s hand in his crotch. What’s over the line?
PISTOLE: I think that’s for the — the public to help inform that discussion. Clearly, if we are to detect terrorists, who have again proven innovative and creative in their design and implementation of bombs that are going to blow up airplanes and kill people, then we have to do something that prevents that. So it really comes down to the question…
CROWLEY: But the public didn’t have any choice in this. And there is outcry, and they don’t really know — I know that you’ve driven everybody to the TSA website and said, look here. But because you don’t want to reveal to terrorists what’s going to be checked, there’s no way for anybody to look at that website and know where they’re going to be touched and where it’s not allowed to be touched. And so what you seem to be saying is, you can be touched anywhere…
PISTOLE: Well, I think the Israeli model, which a number of people have talked about, uses intelligence in a different way, profiling. And then if in terms of a pat-down, if they suspect you of something, you receive a very thorough pat-down there. That is top-notch security. The question is, do we profile here in the U.S.? No, we don’t. So how then do we use intelligence that informs the decisions and judgments. And given what we saw from last night in terms of this new Web publication that describes in detail how the cargo bombs were done, how the design concealed, and how they are using technology to disguise and defeat the screening mechanisms we have in place, look, it’s a difficult question, Candy.
TSA Chief Pistole admitted that the Israel security procedures are “top-notch” but the US won’t use these techniques because America does not profile.
Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., a longtime TSA critic who will be chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in the new Congress, said, "I don't think the rollout was good and the application is even worse. This does need to be refined. But he's saying it's the only tool and I believe that's wrong."
He said a study had found that the private screeners can perform "statistically significantly better" than the TSA.
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Interesting.........an HOUR later....... Pistole’s statement to POLITICO modified his vow a few hour earlier on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the procedures were "not going to change.
Airport Security TSA - 500 feet of security line in Chicago November 16, 2010
TSA chief: Screening may evolve
Heeding a sudden furor, John Pistole, administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, said in a Sunday afternoon statement to POLITICO that airport screening procedures “will be adapted as conditions warrant,” in an effort to make them “as minimally invasive as possible, while still providing the security that the American people want and deserve.”
TSA's new flexibility comes as the government gears up for a flood of travel over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Administration officials say any changes are more likely to be in the implementation of the security procedures than in the security measures themselves.
Pistole’s statement to POLITICO modified his vow a few hours earlier on CNN’s “State of the Union” that the procedures were "not going to change."
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GOP's Mica: Ditch TSA, Hire Private Contractors
A powerful Florida congressman and longtime critic of the Transportation Security Administration is pushing for airports to ditch TSA agents and hire private contractors to handle the security screening of air passengers.
Federal law allows airports to opt for screeners from the private sector instead of the TSA. (San Francisco International Airport already does.)
As criticism grows of the government's new full-body imaging scanners and the alternative "enhanced" pat-downs, some airports are considering ditching TSA agents altogether.
This month, Republican Rep. John Mica of Florida wrote letters to 100 of the nation's busiest airports asking that they request private security guards instead.
"I think we could use half the personnel and streamline the system," Mica said Wednesday, calling the TSA a bloated bureaucracy.
Private contractors are not a cure-all for passengers aggrieved about taking off their shoes for security checks, passing through full-body scanners or getting hand-frisked. For example, contractors must follow all TSA-mandated security procedures, including hand pat-downs when necessary.
Still, the top executive at the Orlando-area's second-largest airport, Orlando Sanford International Airport, said he plans to begin the process of switching to private screeners in January as long as a few remaining concerns can be met. The airport is within Mica's district, and the congressman wrote his letter after hearing about its experiences.
CEO Larry Dale said members of the board that runs Sanford were impressed after watching private screeners at airports in Rochester, N.Y., and Jackson Hole, Wyo. He said TSA agents could do better at customer service.
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Hillary Clinton Would Avoid TSA Pat Down
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_EVNL5vwhI
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Wild Thing's comment........
Not allowed to profile but all this other stuff is OK.
As far as his back peddling is a great alternative to “All steam ahead" , I don’t see that anything has changed, just his tone.
The problem here is political correctness and Pistole even admitted to it. If you listen in to his answer about why America is not adopting Israel’s top-notch security searches, Pistole replied, we don’t profile in America. Well isn’t this the problem here? All Americans have to endure this nonsense because the government is so embarrassed and tied up in knots over offending a particular group of people.
I heard on the radio that Doctors are now warning pregnant women not to go through the scanners. I looked it up in Google and found this. It appears that the dosage of radiation received on the skin could be dangerously high.
UCSF letter to Holdren concerning health risks of full body scanner TSA screenings 4-6-2010
I wish that there was profiling of the people who are most likely to be a threat.
And, I wish that there were secret criteria used to evaulate people. For example, I’ve heard that buying a one way ticket, paying cash for a ticket, buying a ticket at the last minute, are all red flags. There may be other red flags too.
If we do go to profiling based on ethnicity/country of origin, etc. the terrorists will adapt. They might recruit more native born Americans. But, whatever the case, there should be some secrets in our arsenal so the bad guys don’t know what’s coming.
When the liberals decided to punish Bush and publicize the details of waterboarding and other techniques, it gave the terrorists valuable information about what we do, and, what the limits of our interrogations were. The fact that they didn’t know what was coming was very valuable to us in those situations. And it could be very valuable with airport screenings too.
I hope that there are some secret evaluations going on now in airports. Secrecy and unpredictability can be valuable allies in any security measures.
Anyone thinking this is crazy talk please educate yourself and research the rise of the Third Reich this is how it started. Hitler started a fire at the Parliament building and blamed the communists in order to gain popularity, once he was victorious he started marginalizing his enemies. Remember Obama referring to us as enemies to the illegal alien crowd?
Then Hitler took away guns, he started removing civil liberties, he sicked his gestapo on Jews, communists, gypsies, basically anyone who he had marginalized (just like Obama marginalizing conservatives as enemies).
Jews were forced to wear golden stars to identify themselves as Jews, the media was completely in bed with Hitler and bashed Jews (just as the media is supporting Obama's TSA Nazism).
Then Jews were arrested, sent to concentration camps and killed.
Those who don't know their history are condemned to repeat it!!!
Posted by Wild Thing at November 22, 2010 03:50 AM
Comments
When the police are searching for a killer who may strike again and again they look at all the facts of a case and attempt to build a profile of the murderer so he can be caught by narrowing the suspects based on age, race, gender, etc... But, if we want to stop terrorists we can't profile? Let's not inconvenience a few people, let's inconvenience everyone in line. This is all so stupid it make me want to cry.
Posted by: petesuj at November 22, 2010 08:53 AM
We don't profile. We won't hassel Muslim women and if a male muslim they are afraid CAIR will sue them. So even with the draconian measures used against law abiding US citizens they are not going to catch any prospecitve terrorists. When you do nothing but profile your own people the chances of catching a real terrorist are slim to none. And I think that is all by design.
Posted by: Mark at November 22, 2010 08:55 AM
Profiling is the best and only way of preventing a recurring 9/11 disaster. Petesuj, makes the point again.
The quote,"We don't Profile", ranks right up there with Lindsay Graham saying, "We're better than that", when asked about using torture methods to gain information, that could save lives.
Because we live in this insulated, Politically Correct world. Because we have leaders who care more about their own image than the safety and welfare of the people they are supposed to be leading, we get policies like this Airport Security crap.
Far be it that we should adopt the Israeli method that has proven successful, as well as more efficient.
Lastly. If you know that you are a part of a group that is being profiled, wouldn't you take steps that would assure that you not be included with those that give your group a bad name? I certainly would. Perhaps I see things too simply.
Posted by: Sean at November 22, 2010 09:35 AM
Profiling the innocent American while ignoring the mideastern muslim is really riling up the American people. Political correctness insanity helped lead to the recent conservative victories at the ballot box. Hopefully this American revolution against a corrupt, unreal govt. will continue on into the 2012 elections.
This PC is not just from the obama bunch. President Bush refused to name our enemy. Instead he called islam a "religion of peace". He was wrong. islam is our enemy and the reason we are at war and the reason we are living afraid at home. I certainly hope that our recently elected and future elected conservatives brush off PC and call the muslims out for what they really are, our enemy.
Posted by: TomR, armed in Texas at November 22, 2010 10:30 AM
We profiles looking for serial killers, so why not looking for terrorists? We should stop the fake-*ss bullsh*t; terrorists hate us and it won't make 'em like us any better anyway.
Posted by: Anonymous at November 22, 2010 11:57 AM
SNL's take on the TSA
Posted by: BobF at November 22, 2010 01:41 PM
Thank you everyone so much.
Bob thanks for the link. Good one!!!!
Posted by: Wild Thing at November 22, 2010 05:40 PM
