[Infowarrior] - Airport Security - more hijinks of hilarity

[Richard Forno]

A few comments on recent airport security items:

On the Sunday shows yesterday, DHS' Chertoff kept citing how America is
emulating Israeli airport security.  Rather, what he meant to say is that
we're trying to look like Israeli airport security.

I understand that most if not all of the folks in Israel doing behavioural
profiling are current (and I believe also former) military intelligence
professionals, not folks recruited off-the-street tossed into a uniform and
issued a cloth badge.  As a result, passenger screenings in Israel are based
on years of experience and training in the intelligence and anti-terrorism
profession supported by prescreening databases that are properly maintained
and utilized...not by fancy bloodpressure-monitoring gizmos you sit in
(http://tinyurl.com/rebno) and "spot the liquid" video games
(http://tinyurl.com/jdv3y) to train screeners with.

TSA, despite its proclaimations, is doing nothing more than going through
the motions as it proudly presents the appearance of imitating Israeli
airport security practices, to include renaming its screeners as
"transportation security officers." But for all the hype and long lines,
I've yet to find a competent security professional who thinks this agency or
its practices are contributing significantly to aviation security.

That said, two other items:

(1) IIRC, there were some news stories earlier this year about how TSA's
"increased training" for screeners to detect explosives (link unavailable)
was to ask probing - and leading - questions on their graduation tests like
"what part of a bomb is used to detonate it?" (answer: the detonator.)  I
feel safer already.

(2) Additionally, TSA's new evaluation criteria for screeners has gone from
"pass/fail" to three criteria -- one gets rated as "achieves standards,
exceeds standards, or role model of excellence."  While I'm sure folks can
and do fail to meet criteria and get sanctioned/fired as appropriate (and
others truly are excellent at their jobs and get rewarded) it's amazing that
on such an official evaluation criteria there is no formal failing mark!
(http://tinyurl.com/namdv)  It's a sad irony when you can be graded
"pass/fail" for boarding an airplane, but those responsible for making such
determinations cannot.

TSA isn't "security theater" -- it's just a poorly-produced movie.

-rick