DHS questioned over decision to let Saudi passengers skip normal passport controls

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Fox News:

A Department of Homeland Security program intended to give "trusted traveler" status to low-risk airline passengers soon will be extended to Saudi travelers, opening the program to criticism for accommodating the country that produced 15 of the 19 hijackers behind the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Sources voiced concern about the decision to the Investigative Project on Terrorism, which issued a report Wednesday on the under-the-radar announcement -- which was first made by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano after meeting in January with her Saudi counterpart. According to the IPT, this would be the first time the Saudi government has been given such a direct role in fast-tracking people for entry into the United States.

"I think you have radical Wahhabism in certain elements in Saudi Arabia, and I think to be more lenient there than in other places would be a mistake," Rep. Frank Wolf told the Investigative Project on Terrorism. "There were 15 [hijackers] from that country, and there is a lot taking place in that region."

Only an exclusive handful of countries enjoy inclusion in the Global Entry program -- Canada, Mexico, South Korea and the Netherlands. According to the IPT, some officials are questioning why Saudi Arabia gets to reap the benefits of the program, when key U.S. allies like Germany and France are not enrolled; Israel has reached a deal with the U.S., but that partnership has not yet been implemented.

Any Saudi travelers cleared through the program will be able to bypass the normal customs line after providing passports and fingerprints. The status lasts for five years.

The decision is a turnaround, the IPT notes, from when Saudi Arabia was briefly placed on a list of countries whose U.S.-bound travelers would face higher scrutiny, in the wake of the failed Christmas Day bombing attempt in 2009.

________

 

Privileged passage.

[Valin]

Meanwhile

 

[nickydog]

The head of Colorado's Dept. of Corrections who was murdered Tues. night had just last week refused to let a Saudi prisoner finish his sentence in Saudi Arabia and is one of the motives for the killing being looked at now. If it was a Saudi-connected murder the shooter could be safely in the Middle East already.

[Valin]

The head of Colorado's Dept. of Corrections who was murdered Tues. night had just last week refused to let a Saudi prisoner finish his sentence in Saudi Arabia and is one of the motives for the killing being looked at now. If it was a Saudi-connected murder the shooter could be safely in the Middle East already.

 

 

Link? Thanks.

[clearvision]

The head of Colorado's Dept. of Corrections who was murdered Tues. night had just last week refused to let a Saudi prisoner finish his sentence in Saudi Arabia and is one of the motives for the killing being looked at now. If it was a Saudi-connected murder the shooter could be safely in the Middle East already.

 

 

Link? Thanks.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/slain-colorado-prison-chief-tom-clements-denied-saudis/story?id=18781225

[nickydog]

The head of Colorado's Dept. of Corrections who was murdered Tues. night had just last week refused to let a Saudi prisoner finish his sentence in Saudi Arabia and is one of the motives for the killing being looked at now. If it was a Saudi-connected murder the shooter could be safely in the Middle East already.

 

 

Link? Thanks.

http://abcnews.go.co...ory?id=18781225

 

Thank you, @clearvision.

[Valin]

The head of Colorado's Dept. of Corrections who was murdered Tues. night had just last week refused to let a Saudi prisoner finish his sentence in Saudi Arabia and is one of the motives for the killing being looked at now. If it was a Saudi-connected murder the shooter could be safely in the Middle East already.

 

 

Link? Thanks.

http://abcnews.go.co...ory?id=18781225

 

Thank you, @clearvision.

 

Those people who just watched the Video would come away with an entirely different take on the possible motive for this....Gov. signs tough new gun laws. prison warden gets killed.

[Draggingtree]

Some officials question why Saudi Arabia, home to 15 of the 19 Sept. 11th hijackers, merits such a benefit when allies like Germany and France are not yet included.

[Draggingtree]

Trusted Travelers?

H/T Flopping Aces for this post