In
the wake of the failed attempt by a Nigerian man to blow up an airplane on
Christmas Eve, there have been
greater calls for increased security measures to be enacted during passenger
screening at airports (NYT). This includes full-body scan imaging. Privacy
groups are worried that this may intrude too far into citizen’s personal lives,
and that the institution of such technology should be tightly controlled.
Speaking
of the attempted bombing, this
article (Orange County Register) highlights the incompetence of the FAA
when dealing with security threats, as detailed by the case of GAP client
Robert MacLean, a former Air Marshal who was fired for revealing that marshals
were to be taken off international flights, during a high-risk period, because
of monetary issues.
Another
key FAA whistleblower and GAP client is Bogdan Dzakovic, a former FAA Red Team
leader, whose job was to find vulnerabilities in airport security. After 9/11,
the FAA ordered the Red Team not to write up its reports, not to retest to
check if security breaches had been fixed, and proceeded to warn airlines when
the Red Team would arrive to test security systems. Dzakovic blew the whistle
on this, and was retaliated against by being stripped of job duties.
Both
MacLean and Dzakovic were
interviewed on GAP’s television program, Whistle Where You Work.
It sounds like a typical CYA situation employed by many government workers. Experienced issues first-hand before retiring.
Posted by: Murray | December 31, 2009 at 10:56 PM