How can anyone think that the anti-terrorist “watch list” can be at all helpful, useful, or manageable when a name is added every three minutes, ever hour, every day? As of May, the list was over 750,000 names long, growing from 285,000 only two years earlier.
The exact number of people on the list, compiled after 9/11 to help government agents keep terrorists out of the country, is unclear, according to the report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Some people may be on the list more than once because they are listed under multiple spellings.
Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., who plans a hearing on the report today, says “serious hurdles remain if (the list) is to be as effective as we need it to be. Some of the concerns stem from its rapid growth, which could call into question the quality of the list itself.”
Ya think?
Ironically, the GAO report on the list also urges that the list be used more for vetting employees in the private sector, in positions where someone could “carry out attacks on our critical infrastructure that could harm large numbers of persons or cause immense economic damage.” On the one hand, this makes tremendous sense if carefully targeted and well-managed. On the other hand, “carefully targeted” and “well-managed” sound nothing like any of our “homeland security” measures, so expect seriously bollixed processes and problems to ensue.
(via BoingBoing)