Helluva holiday. A suicidal crazy tried to blow up a Detroit bound Northwest Airlines jet. We knew he was a crazy. He was on some sort of security list. Not only that, his dad went to the embassy to make sure we knew he was a threat.
His trip began at Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos, Nigeria. Even I know what goes on there. This isn’t the first time I mentioned that particular airport. Back in 2006 I wrote:
I was referring to signs which used to be posted at every US airline ticket counter and gate warning of the one airport (really, they only warned about one for a while) with the worst security in the world: Murtala Mohammed International Airport.
Here’s more from UK’s Independent:
Did he need to wear neon to be noticed?
You would think the TSA would make sure this suicidal crazy didn’t get on a US bound airplane. Wrong.
Again, this was a guy we knew was bad. Maybe we need to spend a little more time stopping people like him and less time patting down my mom.
We are so scared of offending people that no one can be targeted or profiled. We will never be any closer to being safe if we consider every passenger an equal threat. There will always be some way for a bad person to do major harm
It is much easier to find bad people than it is to close every possible security weak spot.
Personally I think we need to see some heads roll at TSA. These would be high ranking heads. The TSA has other ideas. They’re adding more inconvenience to flying!
International travelers will now be restricted for the last hour of their trip (no bathroom for you travelers). There will probably be some carry-on restrictions added too. Legitimate travelers will suffer while terrorists will work around new regulations or find softer targets.
The US governments action’s this past week were dumb. To be good, security must be smart.