The No-Fly List is Useless

60 Minutes got a copy of "the secret list used to screen airline passengers for terrorists". As many suspected, it sucks. "It includes names of people not likely to cause terror, including the president of Bolivia, people who are dead and names so common, they are shared by thousands of innocent fliers."

"The names of some of the most dangerous living terrorists or suspects are kept off the list. The 11 British suspects recently charged with plotting to blow up airliners with liquid explosives were not on it, despite the fact they were under surveillance for more than a year. The name of David Belfield who now goes by Dawud Sallahuddin, is not on the list, even though he assassinated someone in Washington, D.C., for former Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini." Ok, now that sounds bad, why have a list potentially dangerous terrorists you want to keep off planes if you don't include the dangerous terrorists you know about?

Get this: "This is because the accuracy of the list meant to uphold security takes a back seat to overarching security needs: it could get into the wrong hands. 'The government doesn't want that information outside the government,' says Cathy Berrick, director of Homeland Security investigations for the General Accounting Office." Yep, it's actually deliberate. We keep the names of potential terrorists off the no-fly list because we don't want their names to get out. This might be the dumbest catch-22 I've ever heard. Is this the culmination of Bush's over-the-top secrecy?

"Gary Smith, John Williams and Robert Johnson are some of those names. Kroft talked to 12 people with the name Robert Johnson, all of whom are detained almost every time they fly. The detentions can include strip searches and long delays in their travels. 'Well, Robert Johnson will never get off the list,' says Donna Bucella, who oversaw the creation of the list and has headed up the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center since 2003. She regrets the trouble they experience, but chalks it up to the price of security in the post-9/11 world. 'They're going to be inconvenienced every time … because they do have the name of a person who's a known or suspected terrorist,' says Bucella." Isn't that brilliant? Maybe they could include photo's with the list, either of the suspected terrorist or of the innocent people with the same name?

Kevin Drum says "I'll bet if there were some senator named Robert Johnson, the FBI would figure out a way to make this list a little more user-friendly. Maybe we should try to elect one." He must have missed that Ted Kennedy is on the no-fly list

Bruce Schneier says "When are we going to realize that this list simply isn't effective?" That may be right, the other choice is when are we going to realize this administration isn't effective.