David S. Cloud
The Los Angeles Times
April 2, 2010
Editor’s note: Expect the “personality traits” of the folks listed in the Department of Homeland Security’s report on “rightwing extremism” to be included soon.
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The Obama administration will announce Friday a new screening system for flights to the United States under which passengers who fit an intelligence profile of potential terrorists will be searched before boarding their planes, a senior administration official said.
The procedures, which have been approved by President Obama, are aimed at preventing another attack like the one attempted by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian suspected of ties to Al Qaeda who allegedly tried to blow up an airliner Christmas Day with a bomb hidden in his underwear, the official said.
After that attempt, the administration began mandatory screening of airline passengers from 14 high-risk countries, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria.
Under the new system, passengers on flights from all countries could be subject to special screening before boarding if they have personal characteristics that match the latest intelligence information about potential attackers, the senior official said.
“We believe it is a much more effective system” that is “tailored to optimize our ability to interdict would-be terrorists,” said the official, who requested anonymity in describing the plan.
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