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CIVIL LIBERTIES

Robert Lee
Chicago, IL



Full Body Scanners Coming To O’Hare
December 29, 2009 - 2:35 PM | by: Robert Lee
CHICAGO- The Chicago Department Of Aviation promised a more “visible” security force following the incident in Detroit on December 25th. Stopping short of saying that any more officers will be actually be on patrol at a press conference today, Commissioner Rosemarie Andolino said “We have a very prominent presence here at the airport.”

The city asked passengers to “Elevate” their awareness and “If you see something…Say Something”.

While the city of Chicago does not control the screening process, the commissioner did talk about working close with the TSA and promised that the so-called “Full Body Scanners” are coming “shortly” to O’Hare Airport.

Quoted from bumblethru

So now we need full body scanners cause our government, Homeland Security, can't do their job correctly!!!

Yup....I feel safe!

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Whole-body X-rays OK with proper safeguards
Froma Harrop
Froma Harrop is a nationally syndicated columnist.

    U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz proudly championed a measure last spring that bans whole-body imaging as a primary screening technique at airports. “You don’t have to look at my wife and 8-year-old daughter naked to secure an airplane,” the Utah Republican said.
    As a matter of fact, you do. The very technology that makes Chaffetz so indignant might have detected the bag of powerful explosives sewn into alleged terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s underwear.
    Had the 23-year-old Nigerian succeeded in taking down an airliner over Detroit, his deed would have horribly book-ended the decade that roughly began with the Sept. 11, 2001, trauma. And it could have sent air travel, and with it the American economy, into another tailspin.
    Ignoring such potentially grim outcomes, lawmakers centered on both the left and right wings have curbed the use of such imaging as an invasion of privacy. They call it “strip-search” imaging.
    Chaffetz’s co-sponsor was Democratic U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter. To make her case, the New Hampshire liberal displayed large photos of naked figures as examples of what whole-body imaging shows.
    In the wake of the recent near-disaster, Congress has turned its focus on the security officials who did not heed several red flags the terrorist should have raised, including a warning from his father. Congress should also investigate its own penchant for grandstanding over matters of utmost national security. ................>>>>..............>>>>............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00901&AppName=1

Quoted from bumblethru

So now we need full body scanners cause our government, Homeland Security, can't do their job correctly!!!  

Yup....I feel safe!

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Obama: U.S. Knew of Nigerian Terror Threat But Did Not Act
Wed, 30 Dec 2009 10:52 AM
By: Jim Meyers

President Obama has acknowledged that the United States had early signals that a terrorist attack was being plotted in Yemen and failed to take adequate steps to prevent it.

According to a page one story in the New York Times, two federal officials told the paper that U.S. intelligence was aware that a Nigerian Muslim was preparing an attack, yet officials did nothing to give warning of such an attack.

The paper reported Wednesday: "Two officials said the government had intelligence from Yemen before Friday that leaders of a branch of Al Qaeda were talking about 'a Nigerian' being prepared for a terrorist attack."

Although the attacker was not named, officials said his identity would have been evident had it been compared with information about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian charged with trying to blow up an American passenger jet on Christmas Day.

But despite those signals, the administration never raised a terror alert, and would-be bomber Abdulmutallab was allowed to board a plane bound for the United States.

Critics also have charged that, although al-Qaida has engaged in multiple terror attacks at the same time and has promised more attacks soon, the administration has yet to raise Homeland Security's terror threat level. It  remains at "yellow" or "elevated" — as it has for several years.


Obama was told at a briefing on Tuesday that U.S. officials had information that would have warned clearly of a pending attack if agencies had shared the information, The New York Times reported.

U.S. intelligence learned that leaders of a branch of al-Qaida in Yemen were talking about a Nigerian's being prepared for a terrorist attack.

Abdulmutallab first came to the attention of U.S. officials in November, when his father told the U.S. embassy in Nigeria that his son had expressed radical views and then disappeared.

After being briefed, Obama told reporters: “A systemic failure has occurred, and I consider that totally unacceptable.”

Referring to the early signals, he said: “Had this critical information been shared, it could have been compiled with other intelligence and a fuller, clearer picture of the suspect would have emerged. The warning signs would have triggered red flags, and the suspect would have never been allowed to board that plane for America.”

He added, “It’s becoming clear that the system that has been in place for years now is not sufficiently up to date to take full advantage of the information we collect and the knowledge we have.”

After Abdulmutallab’s father spoke to embassy officials, the embassy sent a cable to Washington, and Abdulmutallab’s name was added to a database of 550,000 people with possible ties to terrorism, according to the Times.

But he was not put on the no-fly list of 4,000 people or on a list of 14,000 individuals who are required to undergo addition screening before flying. Also, his visa to the United States was not revoked.

The attempted bombing on Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit has touched off partisan squabbling in Washington. Republicans were sharply critical of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano after she declared on Sunday that “the system worked,” even though the bombing was thwarted only when Abdulmutallab’s device failed to detonate.

"It is insulting that the Obama administration would make such a claim," said Rep. Pete Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee.

House Minority Leader John Boehner said Tuesday: “All year long, we’ve asked the question: What is the administration’s overarching strategy to confront the terrorist threat and keep America safe?

“We haven’t gotten a satisfactory answer, and the secretary’s ‘the system worked’ response doesn’t inspire confidence.”

Democrats countered that Republicans have stood in the way of needed personnel and funds for anti-terrorism efforts, the Times reported, by blocking Obama’s nominee for head of the Transportation Security Administration and by voting against a bill providing $44 billion for Homeland Security operations.

Obama said he had ordered government agencies to provide him with a preliminary report about the security lapse on Thursday.

But he added that, once Abdulmutallab had attempted to bring down the flight, “our homeland security systems and our aviation security took all appropriate actions” — even though the passengers and crew are the ones who apprehended Abdulmutallab, and there was no air marshal on board.

Quoted from Sombody

Go look at the ABC News photo of the underwear of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the alleged Detroit bomber. Look where the packet of explosive powder was sewn: right into the crotch. He put the explosive the last place TSA wants to look-

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Calls for Full-Body Scanners Re-Ignite Privacy Concerns

The calls for airports to expand the use of full-body scanners in the wake of the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight have re-ignited privacy concerns from groups and lawmakers who have long said the scanners produce graphic images that could make their way onto the Internet.

The calls for airports to expand the use of full-body scanners in the wake of the attempted bombing of a Northwest Airlines flight have re-ignited privacy concerns from groups and lawmakers who have long said the scanners produce graphic images that could make their way onto the Internet.

The Transportation Security Administration currently has only 40 of the scanners in operation, but it has purchased another 150 and plans to deploy them next year. The agency plans to buy another 300 next year, and some officials are calling on the agency to move quickly in using the new technology, which allows TSA officials to peer under clothing for any contraband. It is believed that the machines would have detected the PETN explosive sewn into the underwear of the alleged would-be bomber last week.

But privacy groups have renewed their complaints about the machines. The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday ticked off its many misgivings with the devices:

-- They say the scanners produce "strikingly graphic images" of "virtually naked bodies";

-- They say they reveal sexual organs and "intimate medical details";

-- They say they represent an "assault on personal privacy." ............>>>>...........>>>>...........http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/12/31/calls-body-scanners-ignite-privacy-concerns/