Normally I only throw in a diary if I have access to some primary information that adds to the general knowledge. This is different. Here's a true, personal story with a moral. And as the anti-Aesop, I'll give you the point first: There is absolutely nothing secure about our nation's Homeland Security, and the hype we hear is intended only for political reasons.
The story begins in November, 2001...two months after 9/11.
We were going to fly out of JFK very early one Sunday morning. We were almost the only flight in a concourse. Beyond security, you could see a couple El Al planes, the SST (still flying) and a few Orthodox Jewish men praying quietly.
As we approached security there was an argument going on. Now, this was a time when people were making up security rules as they went along. There was a very young and obviously insecure, armed National Guardsman backing up the FAA security folks. An ethnic-looking man was shouting at the security guards. He had been videotaping the security procedures. The staff wanted his tape. He claimed--loudly--that he was just taping his "brother," who had gone through security. He could have been taping security, the SST, or El Al. The brother finally came back through the metal detector. (Guardsman goes crazy) and tells the filmer to "cool it" in what I believe was Arabic. More arguments. Finally, the tape is turned over.
We go through security. At the end of the concourse, a flight to the Caribbean is about to close its doors. Four men--the "brother" and three others--are delaying boarding, as they argue in (what I believe was) Arabic and the gate agent is frantically telling them "now or never." Finally, they get on the plane.
The security screeners had no idea of the men at the end of the concourse. We were the only ones who saw both ends of the incident. The next day, another flight out of the same gate to the same destination crashes. The cause? Metal fatigue, according to the FAA. "Nothing to see here. Move along."
We tried to write to the FAA. We tried to report what we saw to the FBI. We even wrote a major news network. We got no response at all, not even a "thanks for trying."
Fast forward to Saturday. All the major news networks are publicizing "another major plot thwarted." Read the fine print. The alleged plot was 18 months ago. Why the press now? What's the evidence?
On the same news pages is the story of an alleged public health threat who waltzes through a border crossing in a rented car, despite the fact that the computers are steaming.
In fact, almost every one of the major "busts" of plots in the past four years has been either a bust itself (no evidence) or the conviction has been prevented by major errors in the prosecution.
What makes a threat? What makes a bust? When is a citizen's report interesting enough for a "thank you?" When is it just so much detritus in the pond?
The moral again (for you Aesop fans): Everything in "Homeland Security" isn't what it seems. In fact, DHS may be just a tad more political than DOJ.