Security on Commercial Flights
Describe two (2) lapses in pre-flight security that contributed to the ease of the hijacking operation on September 11, 2001
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the United States of America evaluated the security of the commercial Airline Industry. Major security lapses gave way for terrorists to board commercial flights, which finally led to the aircrafts' hijacking and demise.
The first lapse that contributed to terrorist attack is President Bill Clinton's ignorance. U.S. administration under the leadership of President Bill Clinton ignored warning signs that Osama bin Laden and al Qaida organization was planning a terrorist attack on United States. Osama Bin Laden claimed responsibility of various attacks on U.S. Militaries deployed in various countries, such as Sudan and Soviet Union aimed at fighting the rising terrorist groups (Oliver, 2006).
The failure of the Intelligence Community is another lapse that contributed to the attack. Security officials allowed the terrorists to pass the checkpoints without recognizing them. It disheartens that even the metal detectors failed to detect any metal detectors carried by the terrorist, yet the security officials were too ignorant to note that. The intelligence community failed to provide national...
In order to be alert and prepare for the foreseeable threats of terrorism, intelligence community must offer information that threatens national security to the relevant authorities (Oliver, 2006).
The second lapse that contributed to the attacks was lack of closed-circuit television surveillance. When Saeed al Ghamdi, Ahmed al Nami, Ahmad al Haznawi, and Ziad Jarrah checked in at the United Airlines ticket counter for Flight 93, going to Los Angeles, the security checked only two of their bags and forgot about the other two bags. The Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System identified Haznai, checked his bag, screened for explosives, and then loaded on the plane, and the security checkpoint allowed them to pass through. Similar to checkpoints in Boston, the checkpoint lacked closed-circuit television surveillance; therefore, there is no documentary evidence to show the times the hijackers passed through the checkpoint, alarms triggered, or the security procedures administered (Oliver, 2006).
Question 2: What steps have been taken or should be taken to address these lapses?
In reacting to these lapses in the nation's security, the United States Congress passed House Resolution 5005, The Homeland Security Act…
