As a lifelong Republican, I find it unusual that I find myself squarely on the side of Ed Markey, a Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts! On the other hand,  my position does not appear that unusual when one realizes that the vast majority of member of both parties in Congress agree with and support Congressman Markey who has valiantly been fighting TSA and the Department of Homeland Security to try to get them to do the right thing -- to use reason and common sense to protect American travelers.

The issue is very simple. Air cargo that weighs 16 ounces or less is not subjected to any sort of screening. That's right --  this looks like the type of unbelievable, half true headline that often appears on the front page of the tabloid newspapers we see at the supermarket check-out stands. Yet, sadly it is absolutely true.  Nobody looks at small packages or x-rays them before they are loaded on to passenger planes -- ever! If you find this hard to believe, phone your Congressman or Senator and when they verify the truth of what I am writing, let them know what you think about this intolerable situation. 

Like most people I talk to, I thought that all cargo that went on airlines was screened. Boy, was I naive!  Packages that weight less than 16 ounces can indeed be deadly. Shoe bomber, Richard Reid, was going to blow an airliner out of the sky with the 10 ounces of explosive he had in the heel of his shoe. PanAm 103 was blown out of the air over Lockerby, Scotland with an estimated 11 to 16 ounces of explosive. And our TSA protectors willingly and knowingly don't check anything that weighs less than 16 ounces!

Now, we have the "Security Experts" at TSA checking passengers'  shoes before they board the aircraft, but making absolutely no effort to screen the hundreds of small packages that are loaded in the cargo compartment below those same trusting  commercial airline passengers -- passengers who a short time earlier were thoroughly screened before boarding the aircraft.  What deceit! What a breach of trust!

In fact, if I were running an enemy terrorist operation, I would certainly opt to send out unaccompanied "small package" bombs as opposed sticking explosives inside some idiot's shoe and convincing him to go die for Allah.  It's less likely to get you caught, it causes a much lower turnover in  suicidal personnel and perhaps most importantly, it permits the simultaneous attack on dozens, if not hundreds, of commercial passenger aircraft at the same time. TSA has created "A Terrorist's Dream"!

It is shocking that this outrageous vulnerability exists -- a full two years after 911 -- and that  TSA is doing nothing about it!.  One does not have to be Nostradamus to know  that sooner or later, if this hole is not plugged, innocent people will die  -- not because the terrorists were so clever, but because those charged with the sacred duty of protecting fellow Americans, are either uncaring or incredibly incompetent.

 I can't say why TSA is doing nothing. This is the type of thing that TSA is supposed to aggressively address. I don't know where the blame lies. Right now I see TSA Administrator James Loy failing miserably to get the job done. Loy has to be replaced. He is a hazard to everyone who sets foot on a commercial airliner. Sooner or later, Americans will die because of Loy's impaired judgment and his  failure to do his job.

 

Alan M. Kaplan