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License for Terror?

CSDL, Tue, 03/02/2010 - 04:00

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
March 2, 2010
 
 
Augmenting airport security alone will not functionally protect America. Part of thwarting terrorist actions must occur before a would-be hijacker or bomber even sets foot in an airport. It must start with improving the surety of driver's licenses and other state-issued IDs, a key recommendation of the 9/11 Commission.
If the Christmas Day bomber had executed his attack domestically, like the 9/11 terrorists, surely he would have obtained a driver's license to pass through airport security. Unfortunately, little has been done in some states since 9/11 to verify that an applicant is who he says, and many state-issued IDs can be easily counterfeited using off-the-shelf technology.
By manipulating his identity in states with weak processes to verify information, he wouldn't have needed to worry about the terrorist watch list. He would have breezed through airport security with no secondary screenings that could have caught his explosives.
This is not to say that more secure domestic IDs would have prevented his attack. However, if we want the skies to be safer at home, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano must realize that increasing airport screening is not the "end-all" answer.
Christian Gleim
Washington, D.C.
The writer is coordinator of policy and communications for the nonprofit, nonpartisan Coalition for a Secure Driver's License (secure-license.org).
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