GAO, DHS Reports Blasts "Soviet-Style Screening System"

Listen closely. That sound you hear is the other shoe dropping after TSA Director David Stone (Admiral, USN, Retired) was forced to resign more than a week ago.

In a double-barrelled blast from both the General Accountability Office and the Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General, the TSA will be harshly criticized for its inability to keep weapons and the people who might use them off commercial airplanes in the US.

"A lot of people will be shocked at the billions of dollars we've spent and the results they're going to see, which confirm previous examinations of the Soviet-style screening system we've put in place," Rep. John Mica (R-FL) told the Associated Press.

Mica is chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee.

The rising tide of anti-TSA sentiment in Congress is certainly not bounded by political lines. "The common finding is that no set of screeners, private nor public, is performing anywhere near the level I think we need," Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) told AP. He blamed technology (or the lack thereof) for a lot of the agency's problems, saying screeners won't get the job done properly "until these people have state-of-the-art technology."

How does the TSA react to the growing firestorm of criticism? Agency spokesman Mark Hatfield seemed to brush it off on Friday. "When the political posturing is over, rational people will see that American screeners today are the best we have ever had and that they are limited only by current technology and security procedures that are significantly influenced by privacy demands."

FMI: www.tsa.gov