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Old Aug 30, 2010 | 7:02 pm
  #9  
amlothi
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Various CRCs
Programs: Red Sox Nation
Posts: 288
Originally Posted by Flaflyer
Oh no, another ebil person carrying an amount of cash that is totally legal in the US for both domestic and international travel undeclared. TSOs just cannot stand seeing persons who have more money than then.
It has nothing to do with how much money they were carrying. That is just another piece of information that, when taken together with the other evidence, looks suspicious. They weren't arrested because of the money itself.

Originally Posted by PHLflying
I think the vast majority of what the TSA does is stupid and unnecessary, but giving a closer look to anyone with bulky clothing deserves a ^
Bulky clothing???? Yeah, he was given a pat down, and let through security because the suspicious items were in the checked luggage.....

To all of the above...and I mean this in the nicest way possible ... Do you even read the news before you comment on it???

This is a big big reason why we can't get anywhere with the security debate.

Two Men on a United Airlines flight from Chicago were detained today when the plane arrived in the Netherlands.

U.S. officials say luggage belonging to one of the men contained what appeared to be mock bombs - and they may have been testing the security system.

CBS News Justice correspondent Bob Orr reports U.S. officials are still trying to figure out whether or not this is a real threat. But, it is suspicious. Two men who flew from Chicago to Amsterdam have now been arrested in the Netherlands.

Sources say one of the men, Ahmed Mohammed Nasser al-Soofi, a 48-year-old Yemnini who has permanent resident status in the United States, had $7,000 in cash and what looked like mock explosive devices in two checked bags, seven cell phones - some of them we're told were taped to empty bottles - and watches taped to shampoo bottles. Al-Soofi, who resides in Detroit, was singled out for a pat down at Birmingham International Airport in Ala. on Sun. His checked baggage had set off an alarm as it was screened. He was allowed to continue on a flight to Chicago O'Hare.

Officials say al-Soofi, who originally was heading through Dulles to Yemen had changed his itinerary to the Amsterdam flight. The two bags carrying those suspicious items did not go with the man on the flight to Amsterdam. Instead, the two bags continued on al-Soofi's original path to Dulles Airport near Washington - where they were confiscated by U.S. authorities.

The other man arrested, Hazem Abdullah Thabi al-Murisi, is a 37-year-old Yemini who traveled to the United States on a vistor's visa.

While two men have been arrested, authorities now say they are not linked to one another. The investigation is focused solely on al-Soofi. Al-Murisi was also supposed to land in Dulles, but changed his flight in Chicago to Amsterdam.

Investigators say this does not appear to be connected to any terror threat -but authorities do want to know if al-Soofi was testing security.

These were amateurish-like mock devices - the very kind of thing that security is designed to find. And in fact, TSA did find them on the flight from Birmingham to Chicago and deemed them benign. That's why they were allowed to go to Chicago and then on.

Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said once officials found suspicious items in luggage associated with two passengers on Sunday night's flight, they notified the Dutch authorities.

Kudwa said none of the items found were considered dangerous "in and of themselves."
link
  1. The part that I bolded is what concerns me first. If this is true, and the TSA in fact did find the devices, why were they allowed to continue on from Chicago to Dulles, and then taken off the plane in DC?
  2. If the article is correct and the TSA determined the devices were not dangerous, wouldn't you think they might say "Hey, this looks suspicious though. Maybe we should arrest them before they leave the US?" Evidently, that thought never occurred to them?

The actions of the TSA certainly deserve to be questioned here, unless there is more information out there that I didn't see. However, when we ask the questions, let's try to ask relevant ones....ok?

Last edited by essxjay; Aug 31, 2010 at 5:07 am Reason: bypassing profanity filter; argumentative tone
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