It seems almost shocking that this can still happen -- haven't we spent nearly a decade and countless dollars improving travel security? If you think about it, though, it actually doesn't seem so surprising that this could be possible.
The flight was international -- I don't, as an American, expect foreign airport security to be as tight as that within our borders. (*Note: this isn't because I think we are inherently 'better' at security, or more capable -- just more focused on it as of late.)
From what I have heard, the man also had chemicals attached to his legs below his clothing. Depending on what the substance was, I don't think this would have been detected even with normal security in US airports.
The most shocking part is that this guy's own father reported him to the US embassy and said he may be a potential threat. Wait, what? His own father told the US to watch out for him...and he still was allowed to fly here, with a valid, non-revoked passport.
While it's astounding that this occurred and the US did nothing, keep in mind that travelers don't arrive at Customs in the US until after deplaning. Even people without visas can board a plane abroad, arrive in the US, and attempt to pass through Customs.
This raises the question: how do we prevent known threats from getting onto flights and showing up over the US? Without cooperation from our foreign friends, this is not possible. With their cooperation...it's surely quite difficult, if possible at all.
Who's to blame? I certainly don't have all the details, but it sounds like Amsterdam airport security for letting him on the plane with dangerous articles. While there certainly will be calls for the US to upgrade security precautions and do whatever it takes, it is not within our jurisdiction to monitor security in foreign airports.
If this is problematic, I think there are two options: one is to work with Amsterdam/all foreign countries to make sure certain security protocols are followed -- according to our and their expectations for planes coming to the US. The second would be to separate all foreign commercial flights to a sort of 'gateway' airport before being allowed over US airspace. Option number one is the diplomatic solution; likely to be promised, unlikely to be fulfilled. Option number two doesn't seem real practical, but if incoming flights are out of our control what else can we do to ensure Americans on the ground aren't put in danger?
No comments:
Post a Comment