A skilled investigative reporter has lodged a serious charge against the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) that the agency is both ignoring and hoping will go away. Josh Bernstein insists that anyone with a good fake identification card and a calm demeanor can bluff his/her way through TSA checkpoints just by making sure the name on the fake ID matches the name on his/her legitimately purchased boarding pass.
Bernstein’s charges mean that since the TSA doesn’t verify passenger identities, safe flying from an American airport is a matter of luck rather a function of a diligent federal agency’s procedures.
Worse than this, the TSA has no plans to start verifying the identifications airline passengers use to purchase tickets. “As long as the ID looks good, it MUST be good” seems to be the current policy. While you, your elderly parents, and your children are being searched by TSA agents determined to nail you as terrorists, a dedicated terrorist can walk onto your plane unmolested.
Bernstein reports that he is in possession of very high grade, fake identity documents produced by the Chinese (who may be Obama’s friends but care little about us.) He got these documents by simply ordering them from a website specializing in fakes that will fool the TSA.
It is indeed stunning that Bernstein seems to be the only person who cares about plugging this hole in our security. How can it be that the very agencies – the TSA and its parent entity Homeland Security- that were established to see that we would never again have another 9 /11 hijacker attack have become so lax?
Why has no one in Congress raised questions about the potential for using high quality fake IDs in murderous attacks on our airplanes?
Every day, the TSA screens passengers attempting to board thousands of planes across the country. We have seen no successful attacks, and this is of course attributable to a system that clearly keeps us safe. Nevertheless, there is wisdom in an African tribal saying that applies here: “No ripples in the water doesn’t mean there are no alligators.”
Photo credit: terrellaftermath
Please share this post with your friends and comment below. If you haven’t already, take a moment to sign up for our free newsletter above and friend us on Twitter and Facebook to get real time updates.
Follow @WestJournalism
Loading ...
Now I’m trying to figure out how (unless your name is on a no-fly list) providing identification to the thug at the TSA checkpoint protects anybody? Any person determined enough will already have a fake identification document that will most likely be attached to an unblemished name; therefore, the showing of identification part of the procedure is a stupid time-waster. And the apparatus of the Homeland Security Administration is a complete and unqualified disaster.