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"How about we begin by searching anybody with a Muslim surname or a passport from the Middle East?"

These guys really aren't that dumb. How fast do you think Mohammed Al-Killemall would change his name to John Smith to avoid such a list? Let's secure the airplanes and then secure our borders and coasts.

"This TSA "watch list" system is a joke."

The fact that it's a mysterious list generated from who knows what, and that it's nearly impossible to even find out if you're on it, let alone how to get off it, makes it far more dangerous than a joke. It's ineffective against terrorists (who often times have multiple aliases), and it's dangerous to liberty-loving Americans. Again, instead of poking around at names and telephone numbers, how about we secure the airplanes?

I understand we can't do everything El-Al does, as they're a small airline that operates its security with the help of the Israeli military, but surely there are lessons to be learned from them. Search every person and every item being brought on board, run background checks on every employee who gets within throwing distance of an airplane, secure the cockpit door, and sit trained, armed air marshals on EVERY flight. That'd be a massive and real step forward in airplane security, as opposed to the mystical let's-see-how-complex-we-can-make-this "solutions" being thrown at the problem now.