Department of Homeland (In)Security: U.S. Beefing Up Airplane Security

Yeah, right, sure. But as you read this, remember what Tom Ridge, the original DH(I)S czar, admitted just this week: we have NEVER caught ANYONE planning a terror attack on a plane through ANY of the screening measures in use at U.S. airports. So all of this is happy horseshit.

Amid concerns about possible copycat terrorists, U.S. airlines will remain on high alert following the alleged plot to bomb trans-Atlantic flights from London, the nation's homeland security chief said.

It's not clear when the threat level for airlines might be lowered from orange, signaling a "high" threat, the second-highest level on the five-step scale. Airlines also face stiffer security regulations, including turning over passenger names to be checked against the government's "no-fly" terror watch list before international flights take off for U.S. cities.

"My emphatic message to everybody has been: This is not the time to let your guard down,"
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press. [Ed. note: What Chertoff means here is that you should not down your guard UNTIL the day after November's mid-term elections, after Diebold voting equipment has successfully been programmed to hand wins to the GOP candidates.]

"This is the time to increase your guard for everything because we don't want someone who wants to seize the moment to be able to do something," Chertoff said. [Ed. note: again, what Chertoff means here is that we don't want just anyone to "seize" the moment; instead, we just want Cheney and Bush to seize your fear and hold it hostage.]

Authorities put U.S.-bound flights from Britain on red alert for four days after last week's plot was foiled — the first time the government's highest threat warning level has been issued. That "severe" threat level for those flights was lowered Sunday to orange to match security measures taken for all other international and domestic flights. [Ed. note: Unsaid here is the fact that while they're checking for sweaty feet, all the cargo you sit on during your flight goes completely unchecked. Nice, eh?]

Threat levels against other transportation sectors — and the rest of the country in general — are at yellow, which signifies an "elevated" risk of attack.

The only "winners" here are the Bush friends becoming big billionaires off no-bid, highly lucrative contracts to provide "security" in screening airline passengers that has never stopped a single attack.