" ... that's why El Al is the safest airline to travel ... "

El Al might be missing out on something,

maybe they should expand their operations to set up business offering domestic flights to and from major American cities.

"But the Obama administration seems resolved to treat transnational terrorism as an ordinary criminal matter"

If this was so I really don't think Obama would be regularly ordering UAV strikes in Pakistan and Afghanistan, nor would he have ordered a further 50 thousand troops to Afghanistan to deal with a "criminal" issue.

Ted, are you deliberately misunderstanding? Robert, of course, is discussing the treatment of the terrorists once they are captured. Or have you not heard about the circus planned in NYC for the 9-11 mastermind?

The reponse to terrorism by the U.S. has been to make commercial flying in the U.S. nearly impractical. Counting travel two and from the airport, with all of the "security" checks and other institutionalized delays, the time saving benefit of flying has eroded dramatically. When costs (and the remote possibility of terrorism) are added in, to many it is simply not worth it anymore to fly.

If we did not have checkpoints in every airport, in every terminal, death would endlessly rain from the skies.

This is laughably absurd and logically demented. It can either be the case that the checkpoints in the airports prevent death from "rain[ing] from the sky" or it cannot. Make up your mind please. Further, to blame the Obama administration for silly, useless airport measures is just as absurd. It can hardly be denied that the Bush administration is the all-time leader in security theater, resulting in the very dirty bottoms of my socks every time I fly.

To mimic our lefty "friends"

Hey Hey
Ho Ho
Napolitano's
Gotta Go

Danny:

If there were no security check points at airports terrorists would kill civilians with impunity. So what we have is better than nothing.

This should be obvious.

However, the West's failure to truly make war on the Islamists is evident from the multiple failures that too often occur in our airports, problems that reach right into the State Dept., where American visas are routinely granted to known terrorists.

Israel does a much better job and we should follow their model or we will lose this war.

Homeland Security instituted the shoe search over 7 years ago in response to shoe bomber Richard Reid.

How is it possible for a known terrorist—his father warned the American embassy of his son's radicalism—to board a plane with the exact same explosive Reid used?

He should never have gotten within a hundred miles of that airport.

This is an intelligence failure of the highest magnitude. We believe in affixing blame where it belongs, and then correcting the problems.

Perhaps President Obama should spend less time persecuting CIA agents for doing their jobs, and more time supporting the CIA and the NSA. Because if he doesn't there will be a reluctance on the part of our agents to do their jobs. Instead they will be spending most of their time protecting their backs against law suits from their own government.

I can see some sound reasons for opposing torture for questioning:

1) I might confess to anything you wish if you promise to stop it. So the reliability is not as good as if the persuasion is less coercive.

2) There is a line, it's not always clear where, but it exists, between what is acceptable treatment of a human being and what is not.

3) There is a misunderstood common law opposition to torture as a means of gathering evidence to be used against the defendant in a criminal trial. Note that this does not necessarily exclude, for example, the use of torture to force someone to provide the location of a bomb, just that the prisoner cannot be charged with anything on the basis of the confession. But that means treating enemy spies and saboteurs as civilians is ridiculous. Either keep Gitmo and treat prisoners as saboteurs (i.e. not prisoners of war or civilians) or treat them as prisoners of war (i.e. the whole Geneva Convention deal) or treat them as civilians (i.e. put them through the normal criminal process). But not the least effective bits of all three!

As you say, the terror groups learn how to manipulate the system they oppose (and from their viewpoint they're absolutely right to do so).

Danny,

1) Barack Obama is the President of the USA, not George W Bush. Instead of appointing incompetent people, tax evaders, Marxist demagogues and one person I'm told advocates child sex, it might be an idea if Pres Obama used some of that executive power on something more meaningful than reading speeches about how clever he is or complaining about Fox News.

If you can name one improvement (between the end of January and the beginning of December) in airport security by Pres Obama that makes sense, I will be pleased. Doing nothing and blaming one's predecessor is not good enough. On this record, he will not run for re-election in 2012.

2) Airport security is a joke, but it does - to an extent - raise the level needed to smuggle on board weapons and explosives. Hate it as I do, the randomness of security standards is potentially useful. So perhaps Robert was a little strong in his criticism.

For instance, airport security, most of the time, does deter people from simply walking into the terminal with a machine gun and a rucksack full of grenades. For whatever reason, no one has got onto a plane in the USA and repeated 9/11. If nothing else, I'm willing to accept that US airport security is less bad than it was (though it is still very poor compared with El Al).

However, leaving aside terrorism, the fact that narcotics are available in all the major cities of the West should persuade you that there are serious gaps in the border controls. Take the UK, with no land border with Europe but drugs are available at relatively low cost, suggesting that getting through borders is not a problem.

My nightmare would be half a dozen terrorists independently trying to board the same plane with documentation "proving" they're all diabetics and need insulin syringes: it is almost certain that under race quotas for searching passengers, that no more than three would be searched and (possibly) caught (Jewish grandma gets strip searched though). One of the boarders is bound to have a device that works.

Mr. Avrech, I agree with you one hundred percent today. El Al is the best example of good security! It seems you aroused some odd comments by disgruntled 'progressives'. May I reply?

Ted: You have nothing to object to. Obama has softened our country's verbage, techniques, and is making a circus out of the deaths of almost 3000 Americans.

Danny: I'm not so prissy that I'm more interested in a bit of dirt on my socks than good security.

Alinsky-followers need to get some new tactics, I think. Ridicule just isn't working for them anymore.....

One change that should be made immediately: Airline pilots and copilots should be *required* to carry guns. While that wouldn't have helped in this specific case, there are other scenarios in which it could make the difference between life and death.

My understanding is that at present, carrying of weapons is at the pilot's discretion, and most airlines require that he pay for his own training.

I've read that in the 1930s, all pilots carrying the U.S. Mail..which meant, for practical purposes, all airline pilots...were *required* to be armed.

The resistance to this obvious idea says something very depressing about the level of thought existing in certain parts of our society. See my 2002 post Arming Airline Pilots: The Deeper Issues.

If the bomber had been smarter (going into the lavatory an hour or so before landing), and if there hadn't been such heroic passengers this would have succeeded.

The US Government failed - completely.

For me not being allowed to used the restoom for the last hour is the final straw. I'm driving.

Even across country.

It is amazing what you can see in this country not taking the Interstates.

Bill,

I can attest to the fact that driving across country is one of the best experiences one can have. You are able to see and experience parts of America that one would normally pass by.

I played the video several times to make sure the pilot really said "You can't have reading materials. The federal government says 'That's fine.'" I thought air travel restrictions had gotten silly when I wasn't allowed to bring my crocheting in my carry-on luggage.
Robert, before you make any further comments about Department of Motor Vehicles clerks, sit behind that desk for a week and see how polite you stay.

Dear Robert: Economy class passengers are not jammed in like sardines. Compared to a 747 economy class passenger, a sardine has a 12 room apartment.

I've missed buses because of the security checkpoint at the Jerusalem Central Bus Station.

Hi, Robert-- another outstanding post ! If we practiced medicine in the fashion of the TSA, then we would do mammograms on men, as well as women, and prostate exams on women. Insane, but politically correct !

I like the point about how this latest terrorist was wealthy. So, of course, is Osama bin Laden.

When are we going to realize that finances do not dictate morality?

I'm convinced that a lot of rich people give charity solely out of fear that if they don't, they'll get mugged by angry poor people. Meanwhile, they should be more worried about being robbed by their relatively wealthy stock broker of hedge fund manager.

People are either evil or not, regardless of their finances.

Sending foreign aid to poor nations in hopes of stopping terrorism is stupid.

Terror is a byproduct of Islamic cultural programming, not economics or politics.

I know, I know, the above belief would get me kicked out of every history and political science graduate program in America and Europe.

Lucky me.

The TSA are unionized menches. They are more on the lookout for what they can steal from passengers than they are looking for terrorists or bombs.

We have a Dithering Idiot as President and a Blithering Idiot as VP. Neither one can organize a camp fire, let alone a government.

As long as we have people who wish to appease the world and terrorise and imprison US citizens for not buying their health ponzi scheme, we will have terror and idiots trying to run your life when they can't run their own.

I've seen a suggestion that we segregate Muslims to their own flights, and put Obama supporters, Congress critters and staff on those flights to get this mess straightened out.

Antoine:

Thanks so much for your articulate comments.

Just to clarify one point: I did not suggest torture. I suggested vigorous interrogation. This means talented CIA and FBI interrogators colonizing his brain through various psychological ploys and breaking him down so we can gather useful intel.

Now, we won't get anything because he has lawyered up and we are in the dark.

This should encourage terrorists everywhere to get to American soil ASAP where they will cheerily slaughter innocents and then be handed Constitutional rights, instead of being turned over to the military as illegal enemy combatants.

Just read "Doing airport security the Israeli way".

I like that you are able to keep your shoes on.

What woman is going to blow up her favorite shoes ?

Last time I flew was from Palm Springs, CA back to Wichita. Had on my Clark's brown leather sandals I purchased in New Orleans post Katrina. They look almost like new. There is no way I would blow those babies up.

I vote that Janet is an incompetent, and I would much rather that she remains until Republicans can prevent Obama from appointing a HACK. Ideally, we could get a qualified person, but with Obama making the appointment, and Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid giving the up or down nod, I just cannot see that happening.

Your absolutely right, these cowards adjust to our security measures and exploit our weaknesses.
Additionally, they know that our bureaucratic legislators will be reactive by instituting new restrictions, laws and rules on freedom-loving Americans, thereby gradually eroding our individual liberties.
The terrorists are not stupid. They understand far too well that when liberties begin to disappear, tyranny sets in and an implosion of our way of life will occur.
Obama is a dangerous as the leader of the free world. He has NO CORE CONVICTIONS. He doesn't know where he stands on anything, therefore his response to this latest act of terrorism is one from weakness and the Islamic extremists recognize this...God help us all.