After myriad of terrorist attacks from Cubans, airports tighten security

[Stavroforos]

The US authorities are introducing tougher screening rules for passengers arriving by air from nations deemed to have links with terrorism.
Reports say people flying from Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Yemen and Cuba will have pat-down body searches and have carry-on baggage searched.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

President Barack Obama condemned lapses following the alleged Christmas Day bomb plot against a US plane.
He promised "to act quickly to fix flaws" in the security system.
The new security directives will come into effect on Monday.
Random checks
The Transportation Security Administration said in a statement that the new rules apply to passengers flying from or through countries on the US State Department's "State Sponsors of Terrorism" list - Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria - and "other countries of interest".

We're determined to destroy al-Qaeda, whether it's in Pakistan, Afghanistan, or in Yemen
John Brennan
US deputy national security adviser
Nigeria and Yemen have been linked to the alleged failed Christmas Day plot.
The main suspect is Nigerian, and Yemen-based militants have claimed the attack.
The BBC's Jane O'Brien in Washington says it is unclear whether a pat-down could have detected the device carried by 23-year-old Nigerian accused Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in his underwear.
But Mr Obama has been under pressure to make visible security improvements, she says.
As part of the new guidelines, passengers travelling from any other foreign country will also be checked at random.
Earlier, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave the go-ahead for full body scanners to be introduced at Britain's airports.
Officials said the machines would be installed "as soon as is practical" at London's Heathrow Airport.
Also on Sunday, both the US and Britain closed their embassies in Yemen because of what officials say are continuing threats from al-Qaeda.
'Determined'
John Brennan, the US deputy national security adviser, said the group had "several hundred members" in Yemen and was posing an increasing threat there.

YEMEN FACTS
Population: 23.6 million (UN, 2009)
Capital: Sanaa
Language: Arabic
Major religion: Islam
Oil exports: $1.5bn/24.5m barrels (Jan-Oct 2009)
Income per capita: US $950 (World Bank, 2008)

Profile: Al-Qaeda in Yemen
Attack stokes Yemen terror fears
Country profile: Yemen
Send us your comments
"This is something that we've known about for a while," he said. "We're determined to destroy al-Qaeda, whether it's in Pakistan, Afghanistan, or in Yemen."
Mr Brennan added: "We know that they have been targeting our embassy, our embassy personnel."
Last week an organisation called al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula urged Muslims to help in "killing every crusader who works at their embassies or other places".
In an internet statement, the group also said it was behind an attempt to bomb a transatlantic airliner on Christmas Day.
On Saturday, President Barack Obama said the organisation appeared to have trained Mr Abdulmutallab, who is being held in a US prison.
The US mission in Sanaa was the target of an attack in September 2008, which was blamed on al-Qaeda, and in which 19 people died, including a young American woman.
Also on Saturday, Gen David Petraeus, head of US military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, visited Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh to pledge US support for its fight with al-Qaeda.
The visit came a day after the general announced that the US would more than double counter-terrorism aid to Yemen this year.

Please try and use a spoiler on long quotes. It is also good to either link or in some manner source the copy/pasted quote. This article seems to be lacking such sourcing. -- VP

Kinda ridic that Cuba is on that list, first of all. But yes, this sounds like a good step forward as far as those people who wanted to discriminate more on passenger lists are concerned.

What do you think?

[Martin N]

Awesome, more privacy and security losses just to fight terrorists, why i love it!

Why not just rely on good old fashioned average joe, they seemed to take him down perfectly fine, though of course we had the added advantage of the "bomber" being absoluteley retarded.

And as for the blacklisting of the countries, this just seemed to hinder your average citizen from said countries, i mean seriously, when have we ever been under threat from terrorists in say, cuba ? In all honesty, were more of a threat to them than they are to us, as i see it, weve just blacklisted our enemies of state, though im surprised north korea wasnt on the list.

[Phier]

If only these rules were in place prior to the attempted bombing we might have stopped him before he could have boarded the plane!

Oh wait.

[Dr Zoidberg]

I don't think its Cuban terrorists per se, rather that Cuba could be used as an entry point to the US from other places. Think about it. If you're on terrorist watch lists in Europe or Canada, you're not going to use them to enter the US. You need another point of entry. Cuba is as good as any.

[ivan_the_terrible]

I don't think its Cuban terrorists per se, rather that Cuba could be used as an entry point to the US from other places. Think about it. If you're on terrorist watch lists in Europe or Canada, you're not going to use them to enter the US. You need another point of entry. Cuba is as good as any.

I don't think that's it. People with passports from the countries on the list are to be checked more carefully. So hypothetically, a person with a passport from an unlisted country can use Cuba and not come under any more scrutiny with this measure in place, than without it.

On the other hand, an Al Qaida terrorist could potentially travel from Afghanistan to Tajikistan or Uzbekistan, and go the US from there. Yet those countries are not on the list.


EDIT: Just saw your next post. The domestic Cuban lobby in the US seems like a far more likely explanation.

[Dr Zoidberg]

I don't think that's it. People with passports from the countries on the list are to be checked more carefully. So hypothetically, a person with a passport from an unlisted country can use Cuba and not come under any more scrutiny with this measure in place, than without it.

Then perhaps there is information to suggest potential terrorists were seeking to use Cuban passports (as silly as that seems) to enter the US? Who knows?

[Martin N]

If you're on terrorist watch lists in Europe or Canada, you're not going to use them to enter the US. You need another point of entry. Cuba is as good as any.

Why would you not ? From this circumstance youd think that europe is the easiest, most sloppiest place to strike from, The detroit "bomber" was on a terror watch list in europe, He had no passport, no visa, we had prior knowledge of him and the danger he posed, he had no chance whatsoever of getting on in any ordinary circumstance like this, yet he still managed to do it with the help of a random man and from a country which were supposedly allied to (or should i say union now ? for the EU) and thus more likeley to catch the a terrorist were looking for.

[Dr Zoidberg]

Who knows? I'm simply trying to rationalise the Cuban element of the decision. An alternative is that perhaps there was pressure from Senators and Congresspeople with large Cuban-exile constituencies? Could be a whole host of reasons... probably ones based on facts and information we mere mortals have no need to know.

[Martin N]

Whatever the reason though, i still think its a tad too discriminating, it looks like they will give tighter screening processes to certain nationalities only, i mean this strikes me as kind of odd, especially after we have just elected our first black president, it seems like a step back. Land of the free, home of the brave indeed ? Were neither brave nore free nowadays it seems.

[Jabberwock]

Land of the free, home of the brave indeed ? Were neither brave nore free nowadays it seems.

Don't under appreciate the freedom you have in America. Complaining about how much freedom you have in America is like complaining that you're in a four walled room and you can't walk through the walls as you please. Even though there is a door that allows you the freedom to exit and enter the room on your own volition. Yet, you say you have no freedom because you can't walk through the walls and violate the laws of physics...

[Martin N]

Don't under appreciate the freedom you have in America. Complaining about how much freedom you have in America is like complaining that you're in a four walled room and you can't walk through the walls as you please. Even though there is a door that allows you the freedom to exit and enter the room on your own volition. Yet, you say you have no freedom because you can't walk through the walls and violate the laws of physics...

Oh thats an interesting description, though i would describe it as a nice comfortable room with 4 walls, plenty of space, lots of nice items inside it, many windows to open, a nice view, then over the years, the room gradually got smaller, the things inside it started to decay, the windows were permanently shut with the curtains blinded, you get my point ? our freedoms have generally dissapeared over the years, not instantaneously.

[Angered Roach]

I would say the concern about Cuban nationals stems more from the possibility that they could be used for gathering Intelligence. I don't have any numbers for how many actual Cubans are used to spy for Cuba, but there was the recent case of Walter Kendall Myers, a state dept. Intelligence Analyst who was accused of spying for Cuba. While Walter wasn't a Cuban national, it does show that Cuba may show interest in continued intelligence operations on US soil, which given our less than friendly relations with them and close geographical proximity makes them a major threat.

[Jingles]

I think it's because Cuba was part of Bush's Axis of Evil. Didn't his administration accuse Cuba of developing biological weapons or something silly like that? But yeah, why the isn't N. Korea on that list? And what are these "other countries of interest"?

[Dr Zoidberg]

But yeah, why the isn't N. Korea on that list? And what are these "other countries of interest"?

Can North Koreans even get visas to the US without special arrangements?

[Phier]

I think it's because Cuba was part of Bush's Axis of Evil. Didn't his administration accuse Cuba of developing biological weapons or something silly like that? But yeah, why the isn't N. Korea on that list? And what are these "other countries of interest"?

Ummm I'd be willing to guess that there are not a lot of people leaving NK on commercial flights.

[Jingles]

Ummm I'd be willing to guess that there are not a lot of people leaving NK on commercial flights.

The contrast of the Korean Peninsula is composed of LIES!!!!!!! Lies and capitalist pig-dog photoshoppery!!!!!!!

The true and unedited image, brought us by the Neverlieing Leader's Propaganda Office. Note that the lightspot on South Korea is result of North Korean aid!!!!

[Axeman]

To be honest you cant really stop a terrorist attack in EVERY possible way. You can march people through a scanner and give them a check, but unless we start strip searching EVERYONE then there will always be terrorist attacks.

[Prince of Yunderup]

What are the security agency's going to do when terrorists start to realise planes are to hard and go for targets like trains and stations, shopping complex's, hotels, sporting events and a host of other venues easily targeted and full of people.
Oh yeah, actually I think they already have except for one Nigerian bloke.