[Infowarrior] - New TSA Checks

[Richard Forno]

Stepped-up screening targets fliers from 'terror-prone' lands
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 3, 2010; 8:08 PM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/03/AR2010010301784_pf.html
All travelers flying to the United States from other countries will  
face increased random screening, and all passengers from more than a  
dozen terrorism-prone nations will be patted down and have their carry- 
on bags searched, under new rules the Obama administration said will  
take effect Monday morning.

The changes greatly beef up screening standards for all U.S.-bound  
travelers and are in response to the attempted bombing of an airliner  
on Christmas Day. The Nigerian man suspected in the attack boarded an  
Amsterdam flight headed to Detroit. But in keeping with previous  
protocols, he and other passengers were screened by a magnetometer,  
which did not detect the explosives he was allegedly carrying in his  
underwear.

The Transportation Security Administration notified airline carriers  
Sunday of the changes for all flights entering the United States --  
with an emphasis on a "full body pat-down and physical inspection of  
property" for all people who are citizens of or are flying through or  
from nations with significant terrorist activity. TSA officials  
declined to name all the "countries of interest" on Sunday, but  
confirmed that the directive applies to the State Department's list of  
state sponsors of terrorism.

The department's Web site lists Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria as state  
sponsors of terrorism. A senior administration official identified the  
following as terrorism-prone nations or countries of interest to U.S.  
intelligence agencies: Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya,  
Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen.

"Today, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) issued new  
security directives to all United States and international air  
carriers with inbound flights to the U.S. effective January 4, 2010,"  
TSA spokesman Greg Soule said. "The new directive includes long-term  
sustainable security measures developed in consultation with law  
enforcement officials and our domestic and international partners."

In practice, a person with a Yemeni passport or a passenger flying  
through or from Yemen would be subjected to a body inspection or scan.

"Because effective aviation security must begin beyond our borders,  
and as a result of extraordinary cooperation from our global aviation  
partners, TSA is mandating that every individual flying into the U.S.  
from anywhere in the world traveling from or through nations that are  
state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest will be  
required to go through enhanced screening. The directive also  
increases the use of enhanced screening technologies and mandates  
threat-based and random screening for passengers on U.S.-bound  
international flights," Soule said.

TSA officials said screening standards for U.S.-bound passengers are  
enforced and monitored by TSA personnel and foreign security  
inspectors around the world. Carriers generally are careful to abide  
by the rules, to avoid being banned from travel to the United States.