Watch for the howls from groups that pretend to be interested in American security but are in reality only interested in furthering the Islamic jihad.
This is a good start, but there are some conspicuous omissions: Egypt, Indonesia, etc. There are no jihadists there, I suppose. And what about a Nigerian or Pakistani national traveling to the U.S. from Britain?
“US imposes extra security checks on air passengers from 14 countries,” from the Guardian, January 4 (thanks to Benedict):
Foreign passengers flying into the United States from 14 mostly Muslim countries deemed to have links with terrorism are to face extra security checks at airports from today amid signs of increased nervousness in the US after the failed attempt to blow up a passenger jet on Christmas Day.
The US transportation security administration announced that everyone flying into the US from or through these countries would go through “enhanced screening” at airports.
The list includes Nigeria, home of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the failed suicide bomber who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound passenger plane using an explosive device hidden in his underpants. It also includes Yemen, where it is claimed he was trained.
The other “countries of interest” are Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Somalia, and four countries the US regards as state sponsors of terrorism: Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria.
From today US airports have also been instructed to increase “threat-based” screening of passengers who may be acting in a suspicious manner. The screening will include full-body pat-downs, bag searches, full-body scanning and scans by explosive detection technology….