Those were the words Wednesday from Admiral Dennis Blair, the United States Director of National Intelligence. He was testifying before the Senate's Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs. Click on the link, which will take you to the hearing page. Toward the upper left corner is a link, "view archive [...]

So, yesterday the State Department announced they had revoked the visa of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who is charged with trying to bring a plane as it flew toward Detroit. The news came out in the daily press briefing at the State Department where spokesman PJ Crowley was discussing how since Christmas [...]

Joel Mathis at Philadelphia Weekly has been kind enough to respond to my recent post on full body airport scanners:

Conor Friedersdorf chalked the opposition to scanners up to prudery, claiming they’d be worth it if they somehow made it quicker to get through airport security. “My hatred for [...]

President Obama angrily told the Nation that "red flags" were missed that could have disrupted the Christmas Day plot that attempted to bring down an airliner headed for Detroit. "The US government had sufficient information" to stop the plot, President Obama said. "But our intelligence community failed to connect those dots. [...]

After the Northwest Airlines incident on Christmas Day, it seemed like everything that had become routine about air travel and security was thrown out the window. Now, no one knows what to expect. Perhaps it's a good thing, making it difficult for terrorist to study what's allowed and what's not. But [...]

By now you may have heard about this:

All travelers flying into the U.S. from foreign countries will receive tightened random screening, and 100 percent of passengers from 14 terrorism-prone countries will patted down and have their carry-ons searched, the Obama administration was notifying airlines on Sunday. - Politico, [...]

About five hours before Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab boarded a plane in Nigeria that would eventually take him to Detroit where he would be arrested for blowing up that plane, Gale Rossides, the acting administrator of the Transportation Security Administration, sent out a congratulatory, year-end note to all employees.. "Your dedication is [...]

DESHAILES, GUADELOUPE - I doubt there are many people who would look forward to leaving this little piece of paradise. I am sitting on the deck of a sailboat anchored in the harbor of this quaint fishing village. I just finished a hot croissant delivered by an enterprising young man plying [...]

Come with me once again into the cycle of symbolic security-tightening at the airport. Refrain from petting the German Shepherd busily sniffing your duffle. Try not to look into your bag too many times. Actually, try not to look at much of anything. Let your carry-ons get whisked away. See [...]

A chagrined senior official of al Qaeda admitted today that “systemic failures, human error and dumb screw-ups” had prevented the terrorist organization from blowing up a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas day. “This is totally unacceptable,” said Omar N. Rahmanabdulmufarrad, chief of al Qaeda’s Exploding Underwear Division, at a news conference in [...]