US anti-terrorism PsyOps leaflet.
There’s an important tool to prevent terrorism, and that’s the no-fly list. Yes, there are mistakes and innocent children are put on the watch list by mistake, but if it prevents one terrorist from getting on a plane with explosives, then the warning list has done its job. Last year, there was only one tip called in about wannabe Christmas bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and that was from his father. Officials couldn’t put him on the warning list, so when he flew into Detroit he very nearly blew it up. That’s changed now. All it takes is one credible tip and someone is put on the official terrorist watch list.
“Despite the challenges we face, we have made significant improvements,” said director Michael E. Leiter of the National Counterterrorism Center. “And the result of that is, in my view, that the threat of that most severe, most complicated attack is significantly lower today than it was in 2001.”
The list is up to 440,000 people now, up about 5 percent from this time last year before the new listing requirement was put into place. However, most of those names reside outside the United States. They key is to discourage, rather than stop. It’s better these things not get out of the planning stages.
Tags: terrorist watch list, terrorism watch list, one tip puts you on terrorism watch list, do not fly list, Michael E. Leiter, National Counterterrorism Center, no-fly list, 440000 people on terrorism watch list, one tip puts someone on the terrorism watch list, airport security, government changes no fly list to block people off one tip
