U.S. Struggles Anew to Ensure Safety as Gaps Are Revealed

"In Washington, airline passengers are now increasingly being patted down, and carry-ons are being double-checked since a self-proclaimed terrorist tried to bring down a passenger jet headed to Detroit on Christmas Day. Canine teams are out in force, sniffing for explosives.

Starting this past weekend, more international flights bound for the United States have had plainclothes air marshals mixed in with passengers. Extra teams of specially trained security officers have been roaming airports looking for tells among the passengers — furtive glances or people who nervously open and close bags repeatedly.

In ways large and small, the Department of Homeland Security, once again, is struggling to strengthen an aviation security system it has already spent $40 billion rebuilding since the terror attacks of 2001."

I'm assuming most, if not all, people are aware of the terrorist attack that took place just recently, which Al-Qaeda seems to have claimed involvement in, but if you're not, you can find more detailed information in a prior article. Maybe it's just me, but security should ALWAYS be this alert. I don't really believe in threat levels because terrorist incidents can occur ANYTIME. I'm really pleased to see such an improvement in our traveling security. I'm not really sure why it wasn't increased before, there must be a reason unknown to me, and I'll be glad to hear it too. Don't tell me about civil liberties here. We're lucky we can travel in such distressful times. A little security, actually a lot of security, throughout the airport should be completely understandable by the American people.

If you disagree with me, okay, state why and how you think security should be handled differently. We all have perspectives that can be shared, just make sure it's intelligent and readable :)

The rest of the article can be found by clicking on the title.

I found this article particularly interesting since I arrived in D.C. yesterday, which would also explain why I wasn't able to post yesterday. However, I'm going to make it up by posting twice today.

D.C. is epic. The weather, especially since I'm coming from California, is FREEZING. People here are used to it though. Fortunately, I was prepared for the weather.

I hope everyone had a happy holiday and enjoy your winter recess.

-Andrew Oxendine 3°