9/11

9/11, Aviation Security

TSA did not pre-screen thousands of aliens for flight training despite post-9/11 law

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Kip Hawley ought to be fired; his alleging there are “layers of airline security” is a sick joke. Six years after 9/11, the Transportation Security Administration remains the poster program for fraud, waste, and abuse.

Atta's temporary airman certificate

Watch the video (click on the image)

Read ABC News’ full report (including the TSA’s internal communications).

And see this report, yesterday, by USA Today:

Frightening findings

In addition, the TSA has been the subject of reports of mismanagement and there have been accusations of wasteful spending — at best. For example, a report from that same Inspector General’s office in 2005 found that a private firm used to hire screeners for the TSA had estimated its fee at $104 million but was paid $741 million, including a $1.7 million bill for the use of a Colorado ski resort for recruiting. An earlier report from the same office criticized TSA’s spending and stated TSA “distributed about $1.5 million in individual cash awards to 88 executives during 2003, making its average award more than any other agency’s average award to executives.”

But perhaps the most frightening findings concern the Federal Air Marshal Service, which expanded dramatically after 9/11, from just 33 marshals to thousands. In recent years, however, government sources say those numbers have been shrinking again; one marshal told me, “Everyone thinks there are enough air marshals on the planes, and there are not.” I also spoke to TSA insiders who have expressed concerns that suspicious individuals continue to conduct “probes” onboard U.S. commercial aircraft. One such incident, involving 13 Middle Eastern men acting suspiciously onboard a Northwest Airlines domestic flight in 2004, was serious enough to generate a report from the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General.

There are other aviation security issues that require immediate focus as well. They include:

* Procedures for securing airport property and perimeters

* Hiring and screening of airport employees

* Inspecting and handling of air cargo (including air cargo transported on passenger aircraft)

* Security procedures for civil airports and civil aircraft

9/11, World Trade Center

Garbage dump no place of honor for 9/11 dead

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Nothing of 1,100 of those murdered at the World Trade Center has been identified and more than a million tons of debris from that site was moved to Fresh Kills and ultimately placed on top of garbage. New York City saved $58 million dollars in FEMA funding by “finishing” sifting operations a year ahead of schedule. Mayor Michael Bloomberg continues to block moving the WTC debris to an area within the Fresh Kills landfill where garbage was never dumped and to erect there an international memorial.

The following are excerpts from commentary in this morning’s New York Daily News by 9/11 family members Anthony Gardner and Diane Horning:

Directly after the World Trade Center attacks, debris from the site was carted off to Staten Island’s Fresh Kills landfill. And there it sits, nearly seven years later, on the 48 acres that are called Hills 1 and 9. The hills contain household trash and about 1 million tons of World Trade Center material — including 200,000 tons from the first 32 days after the attacks that we believe was never sifted. The remains of our loved ones are there, too. While critics can argue that it’s unlikely, the lessons of the former Deutsche Bank building — where more than 700 human remains were found years after the attacks — have taught us otherwise.

A landfill is no place to honor the dead. And yet, the families of those killed in the largest attack on American soil are forced to pay their respects at our nation’s largest garbage dump. This is a national disgrace. Where is their Arlington? It’s time for this city to create a place worthy of all those who perished on Sept. 11, 2001. That’s why we are fighting for a permanent and proper final resting place for the remains at Fresh Kills
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The mayor is entitled to his opinions, but these casualties of war deserve to rest in peace, not in garbage.