More 9/11’s likely: US security official
Future rerrorists will cause “many more 9/11s,” with the airline industry remaining a top target, Michael Jackson, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was quoted as telling the Vancouver Sun.
“It is vividly clear to me that terrorists will provoke another 9/11,” Jackson said at the International Air Transport Association’s annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia.
He said potential threats could come with aviation or other sectors of the tourist “vector.”
“So for the airline industry, we have to make the bar of crossing over into this zone so challenging and so uncertain and so robust that [terrorists] will take another vector,” Mr Jackson said.
He pointed to last year’s liquid bomb scare in London and the more recent thwarted JFK plot as proof that aviation remains a target.
“If you don’t get it — that you’re one of the most popular targets for al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda sympathizers — then you’re sleeping somewhere you shouldn’t be sleeping,” he told the newspaper.
Security measures imposed since 9/11 cost the airline industry about USD$5.6 billion a year but many industry executives question the success of the measures.
Ports and airports remain prime targets for extremists nearly 6 years after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, but the US government has yet to determine whether sweeping security proposals could ever be put into practice, reported Reuters.
Since 2004, the government has spent USD$20 billion on aviation security, much of it for maintaining a force of 40,000 screeners and related equipment to check passengers and their bags for bombs or other weapons.
“It’s clear that al Qaeda and other extremists still remain very attracted to the aviation sector and the idea of exploiting that sector in a strike against us,” said William Knocke, spokesman for the US Homeland Security Department.
The threat level for aviation remains at the “orange” level, the second-highest alert status.
Private experts, industry officials, government planners, and Congress have wrestled with priorities since initial steps to secure both aircraft and airports after the attacks.
Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Britain’s BAE Systems are researching and testing whether military technologies could protect passenger jets from missiles.
There have been several missile attempts on airliners, including one by an al Qaeda-linked group on an Israeli plane over Kenya in 2002. There have been no such attempts in the US, however.
The Bush administration will report to Congress on what approach might hold the most promise for missiles.
Report by David Wilkening
David
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Phocuswright reveals the world's largest travel markets in volume in 2025
Cyclone in Sri Lanka had limited effect on tourism in contrary to media reports
Higher departure tax and visa cost, e-arrival card: Japan unleashes the fiscal weapon against tourists
In Italy, the Meloni government congratulates itself for its tourism achievements
Singapore to forbid entry to undesirable travelers with new no-boarding directive