Terrorist Watchlist is almost at 1 million names. Do you have trouble flying?

Homeland Security has a terrorist screening center that created a terrorist screening database so that all federal agencies are working from one list when it comes to internationals and domestic terrorists. You can check out the FBI’s web site for answers to frequently asked questions about this database. The ACLU says the system needs to be fixed because many innocent people have fallen victim to being on the list including Nelson Mandela who was recently removed by President Bush.

Here again is another decent idea put into place with poor execution. The ACLU is right to call for controls of the watchlist. It is fine to protect America from international and homegrown threats but why does it take the ACLU to say that the system isn’t working? Why create a system that places people on a terrorist list but then fail to create an expeditious system for removing them from the list when it is found that their names were placed on the list in error? How effective is a system if an agency is only 100% sure that a small fraction of the names on the list are true threats? Collecting a bunch of names to show Americans that something is being done about terrorism and to give agencies the right to invade the privacy of innocent people is not the way to fight the war on terrorism.

Currently there is no way to know who is on this list. If you repeatedly have trouble being detained when flying, especially in and out of the US, cooperate with the agency but explain your problem and they will give you instructions for addressing the issue with the appropriate agency redress office.