Government

Govt‘s Top Secret ’No Fly’ Terror List Doubles in the Past Year

U.S. Governments No Fly Terrorist List Doubles in Past YearWASHINGTON (AP) — Even as the Obama administration says it’s close to defeating al-Qaida, the size of the government’s secret list of suspected terrorists who are banned from flying to or within the United States has more than doubled in the past year, The Associated Press has learned.

The no-fly list jumped from about 10,000 known or suspected terrorists one year ago to about 21,000, according to government figures provided to the AP. Most people on the list are from other countries; about 500 are Americans.

The flood of new names began after the failed Christmas 2009 bombing of a Detroit-bound jetliner. The government lowered the standard for putting people on the list, and then scoured its files for anyone who qualified. The government will not disclose who is on its list or why someone might have been placed on it.

The surge in the size of the no-fly list comes even as the U.S. has killed many senior members of al-Qaida. That’s because the government believes the current terror threat extends well beyond the group responsible for the September 2001 attacks.

“Both U.S. intelligence and law enforcement communities and foreign services continue to identify people who want to cause us harm, particularly in the U.S. and particularly as it relates to aviation,” Transportation Security Administrator John Pistole said in an interview.

U.S. Governments No Fly Terrorist List Doubles in Past Year

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab after his arrest in December 2009

The Nigerian man who pleaded guilty in the Christmas 2009 attack over Detroit, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was listed in a large U.S. intelligence database that includes partial names and relatives of suspected terrorists.

That database is a feeder to the broad terror watch list, of which the no-fly list is a component, but only when there is enough information linking the person to terrorism. Officials believe the U.S. had enough information about Abdulmutallab at the time to put him on the broader terror watch list, which would have helped the intelligence community catch him.

The Christmas attack led to significant changes in how the U.S. assembles its watch list. Intelligence agencies across the government reviewed old files to find people who should have been on the government’s terror watch list all along, plus those who should be added because of the new standards put in place to close security gaps.

A senior Homeland Security Department official, Caryn Wagner, told senators Tuesday during an oversight hearing, “We have been able to harness the intelligence from the intelligence community to inform our instruments to keep people out at our borders, to make sure that the wrong people are not getting on airplanes at last points of departure and to make sure that people who shouldn’t get them are not receiving immigration benefits from the department.”

After the Christmas attack, “We learned a lot about the watch-listing process and made strong improvements, which continue to this day,” said Timothy Healy, director of the Terrorist Screening Center, which produces the no-fly list.

Among the most significant new standard is that now a person doesn’t have to be considered only a threat to aviation to be placed on the no-fly list. People who are considered a broader threat to domestic or international security or who attended a terror training camp also are included, said a U.S. counterterrorism official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive security matters.

As agencies complete the reviews of their files, the pace of growth is expected to slow, the counterterrorism official said.

U.S. Governments No Fly Terrorist List Doubles in Past YearThe American Civil Liberties Union has sued the government on behalf of Americans who believe they’re on the no-fly list and have not been able to travel by air for work or to see family.

“The news that the list is growing tells us that more people’s rights are being violated,” said Nusrat Choudhury, a staff attorney working for the ACLU’s national security project. “It’s a secret list, and the government puts people on it without any explanation. Citizens have been stranded abroad.”

The government will not tell people whether they‘re on the list or why they’re on it, making it impossible for people to defend themselves, Choudhury said. People who complain that they’re unfairly on the no-fly list can submit a letter to the Homeland Security Department, but the only way they‘ll know if they’re still on the list is to try to fly again, she said.

While the list is secret, it is subject to continuous review to ensure that the right people are on it and that the ones who shouldn’t be on it are removed, said Martin Reardon, former chief of the Terrorist Screening Operations center and now a vice president with the Soufan Group. If a person is nominated to be on the no-fly list, but there is insufficient information to justify it, the Terrorist Screening Center downgrades the person to a different list, he said.

“You can’t just say: `Here’s a name. Put him on the list.‘ You’ve got to have articulable facts,” Reardon said.

On average, there are 1,000 changes to the government’s watch lists each day, most of which involve adding new information about someone on the list.

The no-fly list has swelled to 20,000 people before, such as in 2004. At the time, people like the late Sen. Ted Kennedy were getting stopped before flying – causing constant angst and aggravation for innocent travelers. But much has changed since then.

While thousands more people are on the list, instances of travelers being mistaken for terrorists are down significantly since the government – not the airlines – became responsible for checking the list, Pistole said. Travelers must now provide their full name, birthdate and gender when purchasing an airline ticket so the government can screen them against the terror watch list.

But with the nature of the terrorism threat, it’s not likely that the list will dwindle, even as al-Qaida’s core leadership is defeated, Reardon said.

“I would argue that even if (al-Qaida) as we know it ceased to exist as of tomorrow, other terrorist organizations or lone wolves with both the intent and capability of carrying out attacks against the U.S. would fill the void,” Reardon said. “The consolidated terrorist watch list exists for that very reason.”

Once they are identified and placed on the list, he said, “We have a much greater chance of keeping them from entering the country.”

Comments (44)

  • Copper Catfish
    Posted on February 6, 2012 at 12:14pm

    I’m probably on “the list,” but the last laugh is on them – I don’t fly!

    Report Post »  
  • SFsuper49er
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 4:39pm

    I have no idea how Airline companies even survive.

    Report Post »  
    • teamarcheson
      Posted on February 6, 2012 at 11:57am

      Might We Say That Many Strong TEA Drinkers Have Been Placed On The List In The Past Year?

      If its secret it means you do not know you are on it. If you buy a ticket and go to the airport, when you get to the TSA groping area is that when you are told? If you are on the list will you be arrested for attempting to violate the no fly list?

      Report Post »  
  • merchantsailor
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 12:28pm

    So what you are speculating is when you call the TSA goons “Goons” or queers, or all manner of names when being felt up and fingered is you will end up on a no fly list. No due process etc. eh?

    Report Post »  
    • MYHEROISRON
      Posted on February 2, 2012 at 3:05pm

      If we stop allowing muslims into our country, and deport those already here, and tighten our border security, well guess what? The TSA would start to disappear! Just another example of the government being unable to do anything right. The federal government has truly become the enemy of the American people …

      Report Post » MYHEROISRON  
    • teamarcheson
      Posted on February 6, 2012 at 12:00pm

      Bring a big onion and before entering the the TSA Groping Area, take some big bites on it and chew really good. When asked questions answer with gusto.

      Report Post »  
  • Marsh626
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 11:58am

    Just goes to show that this narrative being pushed by the Left and Ron Paul supporters that islamofascism is some make believe boogyeman is a dangerous fantasy.

    They really do exist and they really are trying to kill us still. They never went away after 9/11.

    The spying measures we passed like the Patriot Act, which the Left and Ron Paul supporters hate, are the only things keeping these evil fundi muslims from slaughtering our citizens again.

    And as to the narrative that the Left has been pushing that Obama’s election would result in muslims loving America and the islamic jihad terrorist threat melting away, yeah… that hasn’t happened at all.

    In fact, our approval ratings in the Middle East are even lower since Obama was elected and the number of islamic jihadist plots we‘ve stopped from being carried out by muslims living in America has sky rocketed under Obama’s term as well.

    This fundamentalist muslim enemy isn’t going away. We need to keep up the pressure on them here at home and abroad.

    Report Post »  
    • jaylew
      Posted on February 2, 2012 at 9:34pm

      Great post Marsh626. The only thing I could possibly add to your post which is dead spot on….is perhaps an explanation why the no fly list just nearly doubled in size and that is because the TSA just figured out that some muslim mothers who named their little darlings Abu actually added another “b” in the Abu on the birth certficate ….and some Mohammed’s only have 2 “m”’s on their own birth certificates….so for example as we see in professional RAP music names or in professional sports where Anthony is spelled as “Anfernee” on the birth certificate and trust me that is just one example of what goes on in the minds of some inner city mothers post partum…(dads are generally not around or identified on birth certificates because that just results in a life long chase for unpaid child support remuneration for all the welfare benefits doled out over the pre and post adolescent years of the bastard children but what we see on topic here is that the TSA essentially just doubled the no fly list because they reluctantly just admitted that fundamental Islamist mothers are just as atrocious at spelling their little terrorist jihadist wannabees names as in my example inner city mothers are at butchering up the simple name of Anthony. You can bring the Mohammed or the Habib’s to the Mosque…but you can‘t bring their mother’s spelling skills to the birth certificate mountain. I also noticed that the Ron Paul acolytes just ignored your rip on their guy too. Hilarious.

      Report Post » jaylew  
  • Detroit paperboy
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 11:13am

    It doubled cuz Obama and Napolitono had to add all returning Iraq war veterans…. It will double again when we bring the troops home from AssCrapistan…

    Report Post »  
  • last frontier
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 11:02am

    We are so close to defeating al-Qaida, …………that……….we are….. going to…. let the al-Qaida…leaders….. go from Gitmo and catch them all over again!

    Report Post » last frontier  
  • RACHAL44
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 10:38am

    Just more “Third Reich” attitudes and conduct from the Obamination Administration. Where and Who is the Oversight Agency in regard to this Constitutionally Suspect entity??? National Security concerns are touted as the necessity for secrecy in Government until they morph into tyranny. Ultimately they all do morph into tyranny, the degree is variable but how do Patriotic, law-abiding Citizens know at what degree of Tyranny such “Programs” are at any one point in time. “When you cut down all the trees in England to get at the devil, what do you have to hide behind when the devil turns on you” Sir Thomas More.

    Report Post »  
  • TheLibertyScale
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 10:26am

    Why so few? The plan is to identify 300 million potentcial threats and then nobody fly’s except people who work for the government.

    Pete-o
    Individual Liberty, Self Reliance

    Ron Paul 2012

    Report Post »  
  • slvrserfr
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 10:21am

    This is the same Obama administration considering to transfer Taliban leaders from Guantanimo, a Supermax prison – to Quatar – likely a minimum security prison. They escape and it WILL be his fault.

    Report Post »  
    • jaylew
      Posted on February 2, 2012 at 11:09pm

      Respectfully…Git-Mo is so far from a super max prison that the two concepts are light years apart. The self proclaimed nabobs detained there are treated way better than most American Citizens currently held in real prisons.

      Report Post » jaylew  
  • gonetotheright
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 9:47am

    TSA has a not learned that handsome old white guys like me at not the problems. I wish they would profile, if you are an ugly male, no girlfriend, a rag on the head, or from a Middle Easter you are not getting on my plane.

    Report Post »  
    • GhostOfJefferson
      Posted on February 2, 2012 at 10:27am

      Why should they learn? They guy who started TSA, a one George Dubya Bush, told us Islam was the religion of peace and prohibited profiling. His successor is following the same mode of idiocy.

      Remember kids, we’re “free”. Just keep repeating it to yourself over and over again as you look over your shoulder to make sure nobody is listening and turns you in.

      Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
  • 912er
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 9:46am

    We need to find out who is on this list… Quick, someone give it to Sen. Feinstein.

    Report Post » 912er  
    • jaylew
      Posted on February 2, 2012 at 9:44pm

      Please do give it to her….she definitely has the hottest hair-do of either of the two schmuck senators from California. Cripes…the entire state of California is currently burdened with a complement of Senators or Congressional Reps that look more like the bar crowd in an old Star Wars movie…..I can’t even look at Henry Waxman…another schmuck…..and not be overwhelmed with the urge to go start my lawnmower or some other landscaping or pruning device. Cali….you people have completely just done lost yo minds…and you keep re-electing these same complete idiots over and over and over and then you wonder why nothing changes…..and by the way Cali…how‘s those Chevy Volts workin’ out for ya?

      Report Post » jaylew  
  • barber2
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 9:37am

    As the number of human nut cases grow, the decent people suffer. The wackos of the world are causing all of us to loose our freedoms. Did you see the Egyptian sport event violence ? Have you noticed all of the hate speech in our own country ? By our own political leaders ? The world is not in a good place. Ever since the 2000 end- of -the – world scenario came into play, we have been on a path of moral degeneration , growing fear and hate.

    Report Post »  
    • GhostOfJefferson
      Posted on February 2, 2012 at 10:25am

      No, the paranoids of the world are causing us all to lose our freedoms. There are now, have always been, and will always be wackjobs. It’s the fear in their eyes, scared of everything types that take our freedom.

      In my world, you’d check each person boarding for a firearm, and if he didn‘t have one you’d offer to loan him a .38 snub nosed for the flight, to be collected as he left the aircraft at the destination.

      Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
  • eyestoseeearstohear
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 9:35am

    Have you all heard “The Neutron Bomb on Obama’s Eligibility?
    (Listen to the entire message)
    FYI:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4wtJ6UVUdM0

    This is just one of many recent findings…this administration is being hit with
    Law Suits and Charges, from all areas, and rightfully so.

    Report Post »  
    • amdoktor
      Posted on February 2, 2012 at 11:39am

      Watched this video. I’m a common sense guy but listening to this I believe the facts are indisputable.
      It will be interesting to keep this updated, sounds like they found and getting copies of the actual B.C.
      that was used for Obama. These individuals or anyone who has privy to this would be up on high treason charges. They will continue to attempt to cover their tracks.
      God bless us all

      Report Post » amdoktor  
  • eyestoseeearstohear
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 9:30am

    Morning Everybody…
    I just heard on the Radio a Herman Cain Ad – saying Obama has/is selling Russia
    America’s Military Top Tech Secrets, against of our top military Leaders advise.

    I’ve said when he decided to bring all the troops home in such a rush, also against
    the Generals recommendations, and dismantling our Military, sounds like he is trying
    render us defenseless for some reason.

    Report Post »  
    • teamarcheson
      Posted on February 6, 2012 at 12:10pm

      Go on Google Earth and examine US Military Bases, what you see may shock you. Several big USAF bases I was stationed at are abandoned. There were two large Naval Air Bases in Pennsylvania including a anti-sub wing and a TAC fighter wing. One of the Navy bases has been plowed under and no longer exists and the other is empty. Langley AFB in Virginia is empty and has eight F16s guarding Washington and the whole East Coast. Check to see if the bases you were stationed at still exist. America has been disarmed. We have less bases now than we did back in December 1941.

      Report Post »  
  • squigs2004
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:45am

    I remember reading somewhere about who gets on the No-fly List and why they get on it. I’m sure some of the people on it are legitimate terrorists or legitimately suspected terrorists, but not all of them. People are also placed on it if they publicly criticize the TSA, resist their gropings, or complain about TSA actions. Remember the infamous “Don’t touch my junk” guy? IHe’s on that list now. An airline pilot who was deputized to carry a gun by the TSA and exposed airport security flaws had his federally issued gun confiscated and his conceiled carry permit revoked. Just a couple of examples of how the TSA treats those who question them. And they’re creeping into the highway system now while our spineless Congress and state legislators do nothing about it.

    Report Post »  
  • lynnissmart
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:45am

    The whole Republican party is probably on the list!

    Report Post »  
    • Rightallalong
      Posted on February 2, 2012 at 9:21am

      Except for thise republicans that voted for the NDAA and keep funding the goons at TSA. People need to face facts that the majority of the republicans are no longer for freedom and liberty. Any republican that votes for the debt increase is selling the US citizen into servitude and any republican that voted for the NDAA just urinated on the Bill of Rights. There are for more republicans voting against freedom than for it.

      Sadly we have a one party system with two facades to make it look legitimate for the people that don’t reserach the reality of their voting records.

      Report Post » Rightallalong  
    • Rightallalong
      Posted on February 2, 2012 at 9:24am

      Allen West voted for the NDAA – the once shining star of the Tea Party and a hope for a strong vocal advocate for freedom and liberty has either shown his true beliefs or was corrupted by the system. Either way he has forgotten his Oath to the Constitution and has chosen to dismiss it.

      Report Post » Rightallalong  
  • Baddoggy
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:42am

    I hope I am on the list by now. I may be. I like to store food, go to Church, I havve lots of guns, I am a Patriot, I think Obama sucks and I am ready to fight when the Revolution to restore the Republic begins. I will never go through a patdown without slapping the crap out of someone who touched my junk and I think the Government should be 1/100th the size it is now….

    I guess i will just have to walk and drive everywhere because as you see I am a huge threat.

    Report Post » Baddoggy  
  • DD313
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:30am

    I love it when life imitates art. Remember Dean Wormer putting the Deltas on “double secret probation” in Animal House? Now the gummint puts you on their secret list and you can’t fly Delta.

    Report Post » DD313  
  • zippo
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:28am

    Let’s see, what can I say here to get on the list. I like guns. Oh no, now iam on the list!

    Report Post » zippo  
  • ares338
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:27am

    Big Brother is here now and has been for a long time. The Founders dream has been perverted and changed. I hope we find the right person to lead this country back to the right path.

    Report Post » ares338  
    • GhostOfJefferson
      Posted on February 2, 2012 at 10:46am

      Looking for somebody to lead you to freedom is the wrong attitude, and one of the reasons we’re in our pickle today. We each need to look at our own actions and attitudes, and start living free as individuals, both in order to regain liberty, as well as to set an example to others.

      Waiting for some superhero type to swoop in and save us from our own “sit behind the keyboard and complain” apathy isn’t going to pan out in real life. Real life requires individual action, nothing else will suffice.

      Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
  • kickagrandma
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:21am

    Hello, America. Stop flying. Simple as that. Airlines are in cahoots with this mess or it wouldn’t be happening.

    Walk, ride a bike, drive a car. Stay home. Put tsa out of work so they….. oh, never mind. they already are…..

    LORD JESUS, thank YOU for calling our names, writing our names on the palm of your hands, gathering our tears in YOUR bottle. Thank YOU for forgiving us and separating our sins from us. Thank YOU for interceding on our behalf. Thank YOU HOLY SPIRIT for praying when we are out of words and troubled beyond imagining. Thank YOU GOD that YOU have promised to “venge”. That would be something to behold.

    Love YOU LORD. Thank YOU for this day that YOU have made just for us. We will rejoice and be glad in it. In JESUS’ holy and precious name, amen.

    Report Post »  
  • loveoursoldiers
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:01am

    That picture ( Obama with halo)is very scary I bet he loves it.
    The TSA has too much power. With a secret list who knows who will be on it.. but I can guess.
    So basically the people who should be on it might not be and political opponents of the messiah might be on it.

    Report Post » loveoursoldiers  
  • doomytram
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 7:56am

    Rand Paul was detained on his way to speak in front of 200,000 pro life citizens. Huh..Cowinkydink, me thinks not? This happens a week before Big Sis and Obama take another abortion power grab.

    It’s 1984 in this Banana Republic Animal Farm.

    Report Post » doomytram  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 7:51am

    Then I have to wonder why my own name is supposed to be on the watch list? The last time I tried to travel via flying I was denied purchase of a ticket, and depsite every inquiory I could make never have found out why other than this second hand, so take it for what it is worth – I have had problems with off duty TSA agents harasssing me and they are supposedly the reason why.

    Again take it for what it is worth, I have no solid facts other than the testimony of three other people from different sources.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • Darla_K
      Posted on February 2, 2012 at 8:15am

      I find them to be cowardly as to why they won’t give you a reason Snow. I figure anyone who voices their opinions on these sites are probably on some kind of secret list and we are easy targets. It is a sad day in this country when they can do whatever they want to us and we do not get to face our accuser.

      Report Post » Darla_K  
    • teamarcheson
      Posted on February 6, 2012 at 12:03pm

      Are you a Jew? This is what use to happen to Jews in Germany when they tried to travel on a train. You know what, I think this will pass too.

      Report Post »  
  • burke
    Posted on February 2, 2012 at 7:18am

    Obama should be on top of the list.

    Report Post »  

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