"WASHINGTON (AP) - An intelligence official says the government has nearly doubled the number of people on the no-fly list since the attempted Christmas Day attack near Detroit.

The official says that in the two months since a Nigerian man tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airplane, the government's list of suspected terrorists banned from flying grew from about 3,400 to 6,000.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security issues.

The list expanded, in part, to add people associated with al-Qaida's Yemen branch and others from Nigeria and Yemen with potential ties to the alleged would-be bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Reviewing and updating the no-fly list were among President Barack Obama's immediate responses to the Dec. 25 attack."

http://www.9news.com/news/world/article.aspx?storyid=134271&catid=328


This sad, pathetic list needs to die or sunset. Many innocent Americans, including Senators, news journalists, people that have the same name, or similar to a name on their list, political activists, and to some degree those who are put on the list because of their race or ethnicity. 6,000, folks, that's right, and that's just what they're telling us. Methinks the number is probably more than double that total. The whole process is flawed, and it just puts more stress and paranoia into an already difficult process of boarding a flight. I find it rather interesting that about 2 weeks ago, I flew from Denver to Tampa, had my ID checked once, and it was a quick and simple procedure. Coming back, Tampa to Denver. Had my ID checked 4 times! And a pat-down, and my carry-on rifled through, even after passing the x-ray scan. It's no wonder alot of people don't like to fly anymore, because everything is so bogged-down with unnecessary overlapping security procedures. You can say they're necessary, but where does it end? ACLU is already hopping mad about the abuses of the No-Fly and TSA protocols.

It is also very difficult to find out if you are even on "the List." And if somehow, you discover that you are on it, it is extremely difficult to be taken off of it. It can take years, and some hefty legal fees, to remove something that should have never been there in the first place.

Valid points, all. I'm still in favor of the 'P' word ... that's right: PROFILING. And for the benefit of those who may think this is 'racist', I'm not talking about racial profiling - I'm in favor of CRIMINAL PROFILING. There's a difference. The techniques used by the Israelis for everyone boarding an El Al flight are easy to use AND effective. When's the last time you heard of an Israeli airplane being blown out of the sky or hijjacked? Answer: Never. Air Marshals also need to be placed back on flights AND have their numbers increased. But it won't happen in the prevailing political climate with the other multiple agendas that are running now.

So very true and sad. I agree that we need to profile, and not by race or ethnicity, but by criminal profiling. I also agree that if you can be directly associated with known terrorists, etc. then you should be put on the no fly list. Plain and simple, you wanna fly in the US, then you need to be upstanding and law abiding, and not have anythign to do with criminals or terrorists.

All well and good, however the method outweighs the intent in this matter, and inncocent people who are not in any way a dangerous criminal or terrorist, or affilated with terrorists in any way, are put on "the List." It is not working, and has been corrupted into something very un-American. I think the ACLU has a valid reason to be upset over this, as do many citizens.

Normally I would agree with you on it outweighing the intent, however when it comes to the safety of a COUNTRY, and the magnitudes of people we lost on 9/11 and those we could have lost over Christmas, and any other number of times, I have to say better that a few people have difficulties than we have a repeat of 9/11.

Now, don't get me wrong, I agree the system needs to be changed, or tweaked, say it how you want; however, we need a system in place until the tweaking happens, even if it is the one we have now.

I put myself on a no-fly list. I used to love to travel, now it's a freakin' nightmare... bag that. There's plenty to see close to home.

i have been through some of the hassles myself, especially when my ex and I traveled back to Indiana from Hawaii in April of 2002.

keep in mind, I am 5'4" (65 inches) tall, at the time i was about 20 pounds overweight, had a mustache and was wearing slacks, button-down shirt with tie, and a jacket (my usual attire when traveling). I had no carry-on luggage at all, and only one checked bag; yet I was stopped in Honolulu, made to remove my shoes, and jacket, patted down, and delayed by about twenty minutes beyond that. This was all after walking through the xray machine, and the met detector. This happened AGAIN when we transferred in Chicago, and then a third time in Fort Wayne Indiana, our destination stop. Oh and I am also Caucasian.

i think it fairly safe to say there was no RACIAL profiling performed. And although I think it was a bit redundant for me to be hit, supposedly by random selection, at every single one of my stops, I will continue to fly when need-be, knowing that safety is being looked at.

oh and also keep in mind I had a military id, as well as a Michigan id and New York id, due to the fact that I was a dual citizen of Michigan and New york at the time.

When I flew from Fort Wayne to Regan International in 2003, I was not stopped even once.

Was always curious about that "randomly selected" jazz. Is it really random, or do they just say it is? Many air-travelers don't like to be hassled and put through the additional scrutiny, even if it is in the name of HSA or TSA. And to be banned altogether from flying, even after legitimately being allowed to purchase a ticket because you are a "false positive" stinks. I'm sorry, but it does.

I agree that it sucks to buy a ticket then get blocked.However, the only way to prevent that would be to notify you that your name has been blocked, and that would effectively notify the ones we are TRYING to stop, that they have been found out and give them a chance to flee or hide deeper.

It seems like to me, it is like dragging a net to catch a fish rather than baiting a hook and going after the fish you're looking for. There's got to be a better system in place, and there's no reason why we should have over 6,000 people on this "List."

LOL the israeli airlines are a joke. they just throw anyone off they don't like. If you're a muslim you instantly get a boot. Luckily i'm not as dark skinned as most arabs and i speak a little hebrew so i easily get passed their high tech screening process every time : D

I would shudder to think that HSA or TSA is even thinking about using Israeli security protocols as a template, but we seem to be moving in that direction, and that upsets me.

I was selected for a pat down, and was told that it was random. They ended up carefully searching every single item in my bags, which gave me plenty of time to chat with them in a friendly manner. During the search, they told me the reason I had been selected, admitting that it hadn't been random at all. If I hadn't chatted with them so much, I suspect they would have stuck to to the 'random selection' story.

They're slacking, 6,000 isn't even that many people. Should be at least 100,000, maybe even higher...like 500,000 or so. That would do it.