Just when we thought it was safe to get back on an airplane….

SAN ANTONIO —

More than 1,400 identification badges and uniform items have been reported lost or stolen from Transportation Security Administration employees since 2003, according to documents obtained by a San Antonio television station.

Now ain’t that grand!

Terrorism experts said the information showed an undeniable threat to security. The Department of Homeland Security has previously warned that stolen badges and uniforms were used by terrorists to stage attacks overseas.

Saul Wilen, a San Antonio-based terrorism prevention consultant, called the issue a very serious problem.
“If you have a badge and a uniform, you are invincible in terms of the system,” he said. “Not only can you get in and get around, you can get known and become a regular that becomes more and more recognized, so the next time you are less liable to have to go through the system’s security, and the next time even less.”

I’ll go with Saul Wilen’s evaluation anytime, despite the sputtered damage control spewings of the inept bean counters at the TSA.

In a statement, the TSA denied that stolen badges could lead to security breaches.
“Transportation security officers, regardless of credentials or uniforms, are screened each time they enter the checkpoint,” the statement read. “Badges and uniforms, used individually or collectively, would not allow access to a person with ill intent.”

Just like they depend upon terrorist watchlists and the good intentions of applicants for ground crew jobs, and discount the possibility that an airport employee could possibly foster any malevolent intentions toward airplanes and their innocent human cargoes.

What a bunch of assholes!

The television station countered that statement with footage of employees bypassing or being waved through checkpoints in San Antonio and Miami.
But Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio, said the missing badges and possible screening lapses are “a clear and present danger to homeland security.”
“We are dealing with people — criminals — who are smart people and will go to great lengths to take advantage of any loopholes in our security,” said Smith, who sits on the House Committee on Homeland Security.

Exactly. What are these so-called “security” managers thinking? This isn’t like some retail manager screwing up on merchandizing a sale item, it’s an exercise in endangering large quantities of human lives. And we pay for this through our taxes, by gum!

He said he has introduced legislation to safeguard TSA badges and uniforms and wants airports to begin issuing heavy fines to TSA employees.
“When we start imposing fines and start holding people accountable for their identification, I promise you, fewer will go missing, fewer will be left in unlocked cars to be stolen and that will help our homeland security, as well,” Smith said.

Who is he kidding besides himself? There are enough stolen uniforms and badges out there now to equip a major terrorist offensive, and face it: the TSA is an agency that’s already proven itself to be almost purely cosmetic, its security measures nearly as porous as our southern border.

It’s only a matter of time before their ineptitude proves out in a significant loss of lives.