CBS News: No Fly List cost $144 million but is mostly worthless

[BurtWorm]

Brought to my attention by Lindsay Bayerstein of majikthise.com:

http://majikthise.typepad.com/majikthise_/2006/10/no_fly_list_inc.html

No fly list includes some very unlikely suspects

BS <sic> News has obtained a copy of the "no fly" list, a secret roster of suspected terrorists compiled after the attacks of September 11th. Among the 44,000 terror suspects: Bolivian president Evo Morales, the dead 9/11 hijackers, and everyone named "Robert Johnson:"

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.

The authorities have spent $144 million dollars and 3 years trying to "fix" the list, but have so far been unsuccessfu <sic>

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. I wonder if Mark Foley will make the list?

what does not surprise me is the level of incompetance that rises to the top in every single thing that these folks do.

[nam78_two]

2. yeah thats the list that dead people and babies were on

:eyes:

[shance]

3. It's not worthless to the Bush Administration. Its a wonderful witch hunt

tool for them.

That's why it was created of course.

The War on Terror is the "War OF Terror" being conducted by this Administration.

[marmar]

4. America is quickly becoming an international joke....

Did you ever think you'd live to see such a day?

[aquart]

5. I want that list destroyed.

[Jack from Charlotte]

6. Not just worthless but full of "regular folks" who are strip searched...

everytime they fly. No your average Billy-bob, GOP luvin' real 'Mercan out there thinks the draconian laws and rules imposed by The AWOL/moron administration is OK by him 'cause it's just fer them terrorists. Except if his name is.... Robert Brown.... he gets his buthole search if he wants to fly to Birmingham or some damn place.

[gratuitous]

7. Expensive and useless

Someone want to translate that into Latin and make up a new coat of arms for the Bush family? Seems to be their motto.

I like how, even when the list is demonstrated to be a complete waste of time and money, folks like Donna Bucella defend its use as absolutely vital to the so-called war on terror. By golly, Robert Johnson, if you aren't a terrorist now, we'll do our level best to turn you into one by harassing you at every turn because your name's on a list somewhere. And when you finally snap due to this bureaucratic incompetence, the Bush administration will point to it as evidence of the program's usefulness!

Everything is good news for Republicans.