7 year old boy on TSA Watch List

If you are in a profession that requires frequent air flight, as I was, the shift in TSA security after 9/11 was an interesting evolution from bored complacency to incompetence and inanity that made travel maddening but, also much more interesting. To be fair, I should say that even before 9/11, I apparently fit some profile that triggered the TSA to go into hyper drive, because I had been stopped and had my bags routinely searched long before it became routine. It always amused me to speculate that some doppelganger was out there in the world committing criminal offenses that made me a target for airline security, but recent disclosures regarding TSA’s modus operandi would make their motivations more likely random and far less likely to be driven by any sort of plan.

The Terrorist Watch List has become the primary source for security intelligence used by TSA since 9/11, though how intelligent it might actually be can be debated. In 2004, the Anderson family of St Paul, Minneapolis was traveling to Disneyland when they were stopped by TSA security at Minneapolis-St. Paul International airport, because their then 2 year old son, Jack was on the Terrorist Watch List. TSA agents were understandably stunned to see their terrorist suspect snoozing in a stroller with a pacifier dangling from his mouth, but did not remove his name. Two years later, the family was stopped again while attempting to fly, and has now given up trying to fly all together. Jack Anderson, who is now seven, says “I don’t understand why I am a terrorist.” Neither do we, Jack.


The TSA Watch List, which was implemented after 9/11 and intended to be a compiled list of known terrorists, or other characters who might want to harm American travelers, was meant to be used by Airlines to screen for terrorist trying to travel to the US by air. The Watch List is, in reality, a much more comprehensive list that includes any American with common names like Robert Johnson, John Williams and David Nelson, including several members of the U.S. Congress, like Sen. Edward Kennedy and Reps John Lewis, Don Young and Loretta Sanchez, all of who have reported problems flying. Along with the approximately 1 million other names on the Terrorist Watch List, are the 9/11 terrorists and Sadam Hussein, despite the fact they are deceased, but what the Watch List does not contain are the names of the world’s most wanted terrorists, because TSA does not want to share that information with the airlines. (Ironically For Security Reasons)

You might feel that any problems with TSA and the Watch List are worth it, if they are keeping you safe, but the truth is, the program has shown totally ineffective in nabbing terrorists, unless you count people like Jack Anderson, though they have managed to pick up a few felons fleeing outstanding warrants. According to a report by the Government Accountability Office, from December 2003 through May 2007, the government had more than 53,000 official encounters with individuals on the Terrorist Watch List. However, “agencies reported arresting subjects of watch list records for various reasons hundreds of times, such as the individual having an outstanding arrest warrant or the individual’s behavior or actions during the encounter. No terrorists, just the common crooks that might have been caught by airport security before 9/11.

In addition to being added to the Terrorist Watch List if you happen to have a common name, you can also get added to the list if you irritate someone at TSA. Recently, after reporting on problems with the TSA program, CNN reporter Drew Griffin found himself added to the Watch List.
An additional concern regarding security and personal liberty pertains to occasions when one might fly or travel into the US from a foreign country. If a Boarder Patrol or TSA agent asks to see you cell phone, laptop, etc you better hand them over, because thanks to the Patriot Act, and greater power being bestowed on TSA and Boarder Patrols, the U.S. government can seize your laptop, cell phone or PDA and download all your private information—all without a warrant or probable cause.

So, what does TSA have planned for the future? According to the ACLU:
TSA is currently using see-through body scanning machines which are capable of projecting an image of a passenger's naked body like a virtual strip search, researching the creation of an "electro-muscular disruption" bracelet that would give airline personnel or air marshals the power to shock a person into submission and adding approximately 20,000 new names a month to the Terrorist Watch List.

So if you have a common name, you might want to consider getting familiar with Amtrak schedules.

Sources: ACLU, Management Travel News, MSNBC, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune (Aug.5) CNN