Fed crackdown grabbed 350 suspected terrorists

According to the Associated Press, the feds have has prevented more than 350 people suspected of ties to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups from boarding U.S.-bound commercial flights since the Christmas Day bombing attempt over Detroit in 2009.

The AP has learned that tighter security rules prompted by the so-called “underwear bomber” exposed a huge hole in Department of Homeland Security’s safety net.  The new rules revealed a security threat that persisted for more than seven years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. By switching to broader watch lists and better intelligence information, AP reports, “Hundreds of people linked to al-Qaida, Hamas, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other terror groups have been kept off airplanes under the new rules. They include what U.S. officials described as a member of a terrorist organization who received weapons training, recruited others, fought against American troops and had a ticket to fly to the U.S. Another traveler prevented from boarding a U.S.-bound flight was a member of a terrorist organization whom intelligence officials believe had purchased equipment for terrorism.”

After the attempted Christmas Day attack, the U.S. intelligence community took a closer look at the names on the feds’ terror watch list and set new standards for adding names. The watch list and separate no-fly list are constantly reviewed, and names are added and removed each day.

“There are about 30,000 people on the no-fly list and a companion list for people who must receive extra screening at airports, a counterterrorism official told the AP’s Eileen Sullivan.

“The more expansive terror watch list includes about 450,000 names of people the U.S. intelligence community believes are, or could be, a threat to national security because of terrorist ties. Some of the people on the watch list are still being investigated, and there is not enough information for the government to arrest them.”