Originally Posted by PatrickHenry1775
My "tiresome rhetoric" is based on the fact that DHS/TSA is wasting $5.5 billion of American taxpayers' money per year on cosmetic measures that only marginally increase the safety of passengers. The clowns that waste our money do not appear to have any imagination. Counting on them to protect us against terrorists who have demonstrated quite an ability to adapt and successfully attack targets is a leap of faith.
Cargo on passenger airliners is one weakness. What happens to aviation and our economy in general if al-Q simultaneously attacks TSA checkpoints at, say, EWR, LAX, SFO, SEA, DCA with suicide bombers? What is the national government doing to prevent this sort of attack? With our virtually unguarded borders and focus on screening passengers, this is the type of weak link that al-Q would exploit. Who would have ever thought that a Navy destroyer would be vulnerable during a port call?
The commander of the USS Cole screwed up royally. He could have taken more aggressive actions to prevent that attack within existing Navy regulations; he certainly had the authority to act accordingly and failed. I have absolutely no flexibility in this regard. The skipper dropped the ball. Period.
As for the relation between border protection and airport security checkpoints, I'm afraid you lost me. You're making quite a leap with that statement. I see them both as critical but don't see one being sacrificed for the other as you do. Sorry, I won't buy into your rhetoric. Try again.