America must adapt to changing terror threats

In the aftermath of the attempted bombing of Northwest Flight 253 to Detroit, it is clear that America’s current aviation security measures did not work on Christmas day. The initial review concluded that if our intelligence analysts had pieced together the information available, there would have been sufficient grounds to place the attempted bomber on the terrorist watch-list. The country and the nearly 300 passengers and crew aboard Flight 253 were fortunate that a tragedy was averted, but only because the terrorist was unable to detonate his explosive device and the crew and passengers of Flight 253 acted heroically to subdue him.

This “near miss” serves as a harsh reminder that the terrorists’ threat and their tactics are continually evolving. The terror network is constantly probing for weakness in our security system. If we are to prevent the next terrorist attack, we must do a better job of quickly identifying and adapting to these new threats.

Our nation’s aviation security relies on a multi-layered approach that includes information sharing, enhanced technology and security screening. On Christmas day, that system failed. The intelligence community failed to analyze and react to all the relevant leads, and the frontline security in the airport failed to detect the explosive device the terrorist had hidden under his clothing.

Timely and accurate information collection is essential to protecting our nation from these constantly shifting attacks. But this type of “threat intelligence” is useless if it is not rapidly analyzed and shared with those agencies capable of acting on the intelligence. In the case of the attempted bomber of Flight 253, officials in the US Embassy in Nigeria were informed that he was associating with Islamic extremists in Yemen. This information was shared with intelligence agencies, but it was not fully analyzed nor deemed serious enough to share with the frontline screeners who could have prevented him from boarding the aircraft in the first place. And worse, no one at the American Embassy took the simple administrative step of revoking his multiple entry visa, which also would have prevented him from boarding a flight to the United States.

One of the most effective ways to combat aviation terror threats is through comprehensive security policies and the use of advanced passenger screening technology. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) needs to remain on the cutting edge in the employment of effective and innovative technologies. We must be able to employ them rapidly in the face of evolving terrorist plots and tactics.

The nation can also expedite the implementation of the Secure Flight program, which will take the ultimate screening responsibility away from air carriers and move it to the TSA, where it belongs. Because TSA will have access to more intelligence than private airlines, this change alone would make our screening efforts more effective and less intrusive for the general traveling public. The U.S. must also demand that those foreign nations that serve as gateways to our country adopt much stricter screening standards. No one should be allowed on a plane into the United States without undergoing the same screening procedures our citizens go through on a flight from Dallas to Houston.

After September 11th, 2001, America is fully engaged in a Global War on Terror. Our enemies disregard honor and target innocent lives to implement their jihadist agenda. They disdain freedom and liberty. So, we must be ever vigilant and able to adapt to changing threats. As Ronald Reagan said, “With our eyes fixed on the future, but recognizing the realities of today... we will achieve our destiny to be as a shining city on a hill for all mankind to see.”