The Democrats are complaining that conservative Republicans refused to fund $4 billion for airport screening, which is why there was a terrorist flying from Amsterdam (begging the question as to how American screening would have prevented this occurrence). And it's all Bush's fault (this line of reasoning is getting a bit tedious).
So now we're past all the finger pointing, here's some ideas:
1. Twenty-six of the last 28 terrorist attempts were foiled by intelligence operations. Obviously, this is where money should be put. The terrorists shouldn't even get NEAR an airport.
2. Suspicious folks should have more screening. Yes, it's called profiling, if you want to use a politically charged word. But it's just common sense. That's how the police catch crooks--that's how screeners catch terrorists.
3. But the airline screeners need more information. And so do the consulate folks who give out visas. They need access to the correct databases. This isn't rocket science. It's just putting the information in the right places.
This is part of the Department of Homeland Security's work. However, the appropriate policies haven't been set up by those folks (under Napolitano) yet.
