It has once again been proven that the TSA is pure security theatre, as an internal investigation found that in 95% of test runs, security screeners allowed weapons and mock explosives through, even after people carrying them had been through body screeners and been patted down.
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The tests were conducted by Homeland Security Red Teams and the report released by the Homeland Security Inspector General.
It states that in 67 out of 70 tests at airport checkpoints, TSA agents failed to detect dangerous weapons.
In one case a man strapped a fake bomb to his back, and set off an alarm, but still managed to get past security after a pat down.
The TSA issued a general statement saying that it employs a “robust security system that employs multiple layers of protection.”
However, behind the scenes, it seems senior officials are furious with the findings. “Upon learning the initial findings of the Office of Inspector General’s report, Secretary Johnson immediately directed TSA to implement a series of actions, several of which are now in place, to address the issues raised in the report,” the DHS said in a written statement to ABC News.
The TSA, via its website and blog routinely brags about weapons it manages to confiscate. It is clear from the latest tests, however, that the agency is woefully failing to efficiently keep airports and planes secure.
The agency has previously failed so woefully during undercover tests, that the DHS classified the results for a decade.
According to one report, undercover TSA agents testing security at a Newark airport terminal on one day in 2006 found that TSA screeners failed to detect concealed bombs and guns 20 out of 22 times. A 2007 government audit leaked to USA Today revealed that undercover agents were successful slipping simulated explosives and bomb parts through Los Angeles’s LAX airport in 50 out of 70 attempts, and at Chicago’s O’Hare airport agents made 75 attempts and succeeded in getting through undetected 45 times.
In 2013, an undercover TSA inspector managed to get clearance to board a commercial flight at Newark Airport with an improvised explosive device stuffed in his pants. The inspector got past two security screenings, including a pat-down.
The TSA, instead of better training screeners, and investing in real security, has wasted billions in funding on frankly bizarre programs such as a failed ‘chat down’ program, where TSA screeners identify people they think look ‘suspicious’ and talk to them.
While admitting that it has failed to apprehend one single terrorist, the TSA has launched a series of other ludicrous programs which seem to have little other purpose than treating innocent travelers like prisoners and humiliating the public.
One such program was to randomly test passengers’ drinks for explosives after they have already passed through security and purchased beverages inside the secure area of the airport.
While threatening to arrest passengers who make jokes about airport security, the federal agency also instituted a ludicrous “freeze” policy whereby travelers are ordered to stand in place like statues while TSA agents resolve some unexplained security threat.
And of course, everyone knows by now that whistle blowers and security experts have declared the TSA’s body scanners as woefully useless.
Given that the manufacturers of the scanners are now in charge of TSA’s budget in Congress, however, it is likely that more tax dollars will be thrown at them, and the government will continue to pretend that airports are secure.
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Steve Watson is a London based writer and editor for Alex Jones’ Infowars.com, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham, and a Bachelor Of Arts Degree in Literature and Creative Writing from Nottingham Trent University.
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