The No-Fly List
Tatiana Cerreta
February 3, 2010
Filed under News
Senator Graham of South Carolina hopes to get the no-fly list expanded
Senator Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina recently spoke of his plans and opinions on expanding the no-fly list, but, if the government did decide to include more names and groups of people on the list, could it pose a threat of being considered racial profiling? The no fly-list is a group of names used by airlines to determine if a certain individual’s past or present actions or involvements would make them a possible threat to a flight and its passengers. After the tragic day of September 11, 2001, President Bush took many measures to ensure the safety of air traffic control and to try to keep terrorists out of the air.
Years have since then gone by and our new President, Barrack Obama has done a bit of budget cutting when it comes to airline security because of the lowered terrorist threat level and economy issues. But recently, around Christmas last year, another potential terrorist attack almost occurred; an everyday looking individual slipped past airline checks and got on to a plane strapped with deadly weapons. Before take off, authorities did pick up on some questionable behavior and did find and disarm the terrorist just in time.
But many Americans were surprised that someone could actually make it through a security check and make it on to a plane. “Budgets cuts on airline security are just asking for another terrorist attack,” Sophomore H.T. Warren states. Following the near attack, many politicians are calling for a larger budget and better screening for airlines but there is much debate on how to determine who would be on the list and how the list will be made. Craig Martin, Brashier’s History, Leadership, and American Wars teacher feels, “We have to do what is necessary to protect our country.”
Important political figures both stand on opposite sides of the fence when it comes to expanding the no-fly list to include more names, but the issue at hand is that many feel if we do expand the list, groups of people, instead of individuals will be listed causing possible racial profiling problems. Sophomore Austin Maxwell says, “[We should] let people fly but do in depth background checks.” If the government does decide to do background checks, it could possibly take a lot of time and perhaps miss a few potential people who really should not be in the air. H.T. Warren thinks, “ If we limit [the no-fly list] to names, we might not get all the people [who may be dangerous].”
On Christmas day, Umar Abdulmutallab almost fell through with a terrorist attack
A decision will be reached soon determining whether or not the list will be expanded and who will be listed.
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