Posted on 12/30/2009 10:36:05 AM PST by La Lydia
The US blocked Dutch attempts to install full-body scanners for passengers travelling to the US before the failed suicide bombing of a transatlantic flight on Christmas Day, the Dutch interior minister said today. Authorities at Schipol airport in Amsterdam had wanted to introduce the devices to monitor US-bound flights, but the scanners were not installed because US authorities wanted them to be used on flights to all destinations, said Guusje Ter Horst
The disclosure could put further pressure on Barack Obama, who has come under criticism in the US after the security lapse that allowed a young Nigerian Islamist to board a US plane on Christmas day carrying explosives. He has been charged with trying to destroy the Northwest Airlines flight, bound for Detroit from Amsterdam.
Following the failed bomb attack, the US has now agreed to the body scanners for passengers to America, Ter Horst said. They will be ready in three weeks' time. Normal metal detectors could not have spotted the explosives, and the use of full-body scanners would have helped prevent Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from taking them on the aircraft, she said.
Full-body scanners, unlike the standard archway metal detectors, use radio waves to generate a picture of the body that can see through a person's clothing and spot hidden weapons or packages....
A preliminary Dutch investigation said all security checks were correctly carried out in Amsterdam before the flight left, and US authorities cleared the passenger list that included Abdulmutallab.
Ter Horst said the Dutch authorities did not know that Abdulmutallab – who was travelling on a Nigerian passport – was on a US security list. Initial reports said he had been allowed on to the plane without a passport...
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
The USA has the ability to enforce screening standards on all inbound international flights with the simple threat to prohibit inbound flights from any airport or country that does not meet those standards.
And the reason they didn't is....?
My idea of a job from hell would be having to look at scanners showing the wide variety of elderly schmeckels among the flying public for eight hours a day, five days a week, with 20 minutes off for lunch. That would be a just punishment for a majority of domestic criminals. By the way, most women who have mastectomies today also have implants, so I don’t think that would necessarily be a separate issue.
The reason they didn't what?
"enforce screening standards on all inbound international flights with the simple threat to prohibit inbound flights from any airport or country that does not meet those standards."
Body scanners blocked by US ‘could have prevented attempted plane attack’
_______
Stop issuing visas to anyone and everyone that wants to come here and this could have been prevented. That’s what enabled the 9/11 terrorists and most of our ‘terrorism’ problems. The problem is with USCIS and the State Dept. who don’t bother to vet any of them properly and refuse to go after the visa overstays...about 4 million of them roaming around ‘somewhere’. Expect much more of this.
The only reason a person would get on an international flight without a PASSPORT, is because they aren’t worried about having to ‘de-plane’.
The requirement to HAVE A PASSPORT should have kept this person off the plane. It, however, did not.
The question is WHY?
“requirement to HAVE A PASSPORT should have kept this person off the plane. It, however, did not.
The question is WHY?”
Yes, that is stunning. There is no logical answer for that one.
Hmmm. Must have been blocked under Obama’s watch.
Otherwise, the media and Democrats would be screaming it’s all Bush’s fault.
ML/NJ
"enforce screening standards on all inbound international flights with the simple threat to prohibit inbound flights from any airport or country that does not meet those standards."
They did. The US had determined that security in Amsterdam met US requirements. That guy would have made it through most USA checkpoints with the schlong bomb just as easily as he did in Amsterdam.
Relax 0bama & Janet are always working to protect you and I.
NOT
TSA is challenged to operate their cell phones.
But would he have been allowed to board an international flight, without a passport ?
We are not getting the full story. There are holes in it on both sides of the ocean. There are lots of things that make no sense.
I don't think that happened this time either. There were rumors that he tried to do so, but I have heard no information suggesting that he actually succeeded. On the contrary, all sources indicate that he had a valid entry visa, and visas are typically attached to passports.
First off, allow me to say that neither you nor I were there, and that we seem to be getting conflicting information from the MSM.
I heard he had a VISA too. Then....
The latest word is that his VISA had expired and that the passport he had (which he did not want to show to the airport staff or security) was from ITALY (likely it was a fake).
I would say you are 100% correct about that.
Folks in the US also need to understand that Guusje Ter Horst, the Dutch secretary of Internal Affairs is a solid left winger who cannot get the word “Muslim” out of her mouth to save her life. Much like Zero.
I think that there is a whole lot of CYA going on. The finger pointing is just really getting started.
IF it causes ALL major airports to use the body scanners, then perhaps it will save some lives. Of course that implies that the scanners will actually be used correctly.
How ‘good’ is the airport security at the Dutch airport compared to the TSA in the US?
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.