I want to thank you ABC for providing assistance to terrorists. How is this news that can help. You should have reported this to the DHS and not online. Can all of you in the media be that stupid or callous. Maybe it is because you all think you are in an elected position of moral superiority. I spent 22yrs in the navy (honorably retired) to support and defend the constitution of the U.S. and you all seem to use it as a napkin.

Thanks.....

Got any other good ideas to share with us terrirists...??? How about publishing the weak spots in our power grid, or nuclear power plant...???

Journalists = Anarchists

I don't know about anyone else, but I've about had it with "post 911" fear, paranoia and yes.. I'll say it.. plain old yellow-bellied cowardice here in the formerly Land of the Free and Home of the Brave.

Thank God that the America of December 7, 1941 had the spine that we seem to be sorely lacking today.

I think it is an important counter-point to this blog article, that there are many layers of security protections in place at all the major US airports. While a falsified boarding pass will allow a traveller to enter the boarding area, it should be remembered that by that point the passangers have been : 1) screened for metallic and proscribed items. 2) bags, jackets, and shoes have been cleared through the scanner, metal detector, and other active scanning detectors. 3) Many airports now have a non-invasive explosive and chemical residue detector nicknamed the 'puff chamber' which checks for even minute traces of compounds. ... At this point, any potential threat has been effectively neutralized, and the person may now enjoy a long wait in the security lounge. Once inside the boarding area, there are other strong procedures and safety measures in place that likewise curtail and neutralize potential threats. As an issue, prescanning falsified boarding passes prior to entering the security zone is a non-starter issue.

I believe it’s very important that the media mainstream continue to be honest and upfront with as much information as possible to the public. It is important that the truth be told pertaining to these issues at hand.

When it comes to the airport security, I suggest policies not becoming lax when they are working; it’s not the best time to let our guard down because nothing has been solved when it comes to terrorism.

And if you recall back in December 2005, the current administrative received bad marks for terrorism preps, and in this grading system the TSA received an “F” for poor airline passenger pre-screening, the "burying" of the overall intelligence budget within the defense budget, and coalition standards for terrorist detention.

God Bless.

Although this "trick" isn't the most secretest trick in the book, I am very appalled by the government's response to the investigation.

To: Mr. Britt Wayne Smith
These types of information informs the public how vulnerable our transportation system is. These reports also put government officials accountable for the lack of security in this country. These reports are not aimed to give new "ideas" to terrorists. Heck, politicians use these reports more than terrorists to carry out their own agenda. Besides, it seems the government doesn't mind this flaw at all. If you believe in the government so much, why do you have to scorn these reports when the government officials labels them as insignificant to breach of security? I believe in this country, but government alone cannot sustain it. From civilian media investigations to army's protection, this country stands because each of us are all united to form a more perfect society.

I wonder if you driveling self-anointed idiots in the media realize that Islamic terrorists will happily chop your heads off or blow you all up, the same way they would us, the unanointed? For sheer stupidity and empty-headed anti-Americanism, nobody beats the old media. Thank God for Fox!

Perhaps there might have been another way to convey this useful information (that lots of us travelers knew before anyway) without making it appear that ABC's main goal is to allow a terrorist attack so that Bush might look bad?

I understand that this would be . . . well . . . a lie, but it would have been more marketable.

To those of you who think our government is "intelligent" think again. Remember....the terrorists over-powered the 9-11 flights with BOX CUTTERS....Helllllooooo!
One person cannot do what 5 or 6 people can do better. Sheer power is present here, air marshalls or not. Best they don't get ON THE PLANE. Any secure "parts" can be used as weapons.... with enough "man-power" behind it...duhhhh.
The news media does sometimes reveal too much information, but usually a terroist has already figured out how to foil am attempt
before the media catches it. I'm not a terrorist....but I have raised really bright kids! You have to think AHEAD of the CURVE. Terrorists and children have much in common. They both spend hours contemplating how to foil watchful eyes, just on different levels.
HOMELAND INSECURITY doesn't really waste it's time staying ahead of the curve, unless someone "with some power" starts making noises. The government hates to be held accountable for non-pet projects. That is why we have illegal felons walking our streets slapping us in the face with our own "freedoms and rights" which also protects their right to threaten us, steal from us and destroy our national economy! Not really bright...

Shar

Allowing a terrorist attack so that Bush might look bad? The only thing another terrorist attack is going to do is make Bush look like our SAVIOR that we can never abandon now, because he has led us through the storms, everyone revered Giuliani as a god after 9/11 and Bush as Jesus Christ, and the Patriot Act passed without a peep and now people are posting on blogs advocating the revocation of a free press with much fear, uncertainty and doubt in their hearts thanks to the effects of terrorism - to create fear - and the benefit it gave our leaders. They were probably cheering along with the people in that 10 second loop of the people on the West Bank. It was such a fortuitous disaster for the power elite. Don't delude yourself into thinking another attack will be anything but beneficial for Bushco.

For those who are attacking ABC for REPORTING NEWS I have a question.

Which do you think will be more likely to get DHS to correct this "loophole" in airplane security:

Secretly telling DHS and hoping they get off their rearends?

Or making it public so that they get pressure from INFORMED CITIZENS to fix the loophole?

Some of you apparently like living under a rock. And are of the opinion that the terrorists are dumb and can't/haven't figured out this simple "trick" themselves.

This is old news, people have known about it for years. Although I never would use one at an airport, I tried this trick about 3 years ago. The real point is that TSA does't so much try to increase security as much as the apperance of security. If you think this harms national security then you must think that all legit terroists are really really dumb and wouldn't spend more then about 3 minutes planning.

lol @ you guys saying this helps terrorists. even though you clearly haven't, i think terrorists have already figured out, without the aid of this article, that you can use a printer to print stuff on paper.

i bet you'd also lament that ABC news was helping terrorists if they published an article with the headline: "BREAKING NEWS: STUDY FINDS THAT BOMBS DESTROY STUFF".

There's a flaw in this story. When I get on a flight, my boarding pass is checked against my ID. If my real name was on a no-fly list, I'd have to have fake ID that is under another name. And if I've gone to the trouble of getting fake ID, I'd have gone to the trouble of having my ticket issued under that faked name.

Therefore, the need to doctor a boarding pass does not exist to get around no-fly lists.

Where it IS useful is this: if I want to meet someone at the gate, I just doctor a boarding pass that allows me, with my normal ID, to get into the departure area. Piece of cake. But, as others have noted, I'd still be screened for weaponry, so I would present a minimal threat.

Finally, getting into the secure area doesn't even take a fake boarding pass. Talk to airline officials, tell them you have to meet a sick relative when they get off the plane, and you can get a pass to go down and meet a plane. You still get screened, so the threat is minimal.

So, bottom-line, this is a non-story. You'd be better served looking at how easy it would be to reproduce the Rome and Lod Airport massacres despite today's security. All those long lines getting into security are just target-rich environments.

I think we can take it as a given that, if in fact one does exist, any individual contemplating conducting terroristic activity at a commercial airport within the U.S. has long ago realized how permeable a shield the online boarding pass makes. As a result, suppressing information of this sort does nothing to impede such an individual. Instead, the only purpose doing so would serve would be to cover up yet another knuckleheaded, misdirected action of the DHS, further hiding the astounding incompetence demonstrated by the federal government since long before 9/11. Wake up, people: The Bush administration's complaints about the media have nothing at all to do with protecting American citizens and everything to do with covering their tracks.

I'm seriously concerned at the number of people who don't understand how a democracy works. A free press is essential for the survival of a democracy! It is their job to tell us what our government is doing.

kudos to you, Dave. When will middle america wake up and realize that the press is doing all of us a huge public service by exposing loopholes like these as well as reminding us about our disappering freedoms? And how embarrassing was it to watch our "president" have that hissy fit in front of the world yesterday?

Freedom of the press. Remember that one? Some people would like to change the national bird to the ostrich and live with heads in the sand. The 'terrorist' boogeyman that is constantly trotted out could easily figure out this stuff. It is important to report it so that we don't live in an informtion vacuum controlled by the government. Lazy folks want Big Brother to do it all. Consider the cost.

Most of the foolishness that TSA puts flyers through (like taking off one's shoes, etc), while good at frightening people and slowing commerce, does little if anything to stop terrorists.

For example:
-- Did you ever notice that after you walk through "security" the inside of the airport is store after store full of merchandise that doesn't get examined? Two or three people with minimum wage jobs at a fast-food or sunglass store could easily bring anything they want inside and pass it off to a passenger.
--Much of the cargo that goes in the belly of passenger jets doesn't get checked. There are explosion-proof roll-on containers, but airlines won't pay for them.
-- In most cities, vans go out at 4 AM to pick up day workers for the kitchens that prepare the day's airplane food. Any of these individuals could introduce dangerous substances into large batches of food.
--Finally, in the past year, the only person murdered while flying is the one mentally handicapped passenger shot by "sky marshalls", some of whom have been charged with smuggling cocaine.

The media needs to expose the hypocrisy and weaknesses of the government's impotence on security, and citizens should demand real security, not fear mongering.

Anad,

Let me address some of the points you make, directly:

"Store after store of merchandise that does not get examined" -- In fact, the merchandise, food, and other materials that end up in the security zone are subject to even more screening than the passengers get. Each and every box goes through a series of powerful scanners, detectors, and chemical swab checks.

"Much of the cargo that goes in the plane does not get checked." I am afraid that this is just plain wrong. EVERY single item that goes into the cargo area of the plane is subject to the same rigorous scans and checks that keep passangers safe.

"4AM Day Workers" I am not even sure where to begin with this issue. Food preparation workers, working inside the security zone of major airports, are subject to the hiring practices, badging, security procedures, and basic background checks that any airport worker must pass. If you have evidence of an airport food service restaurant using so-called day workers, report it to the authorities immediately.