"Innocents getting caught up in airport terror watch lists"

Sunday, August 22, 2004

Innocents getting caught up in airport terror watch lists 
By SARA KEHAULANI GOO 
The Washington (DC) Post

 
WASHINGTON - For more than a year and a half, Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., has
endured lengthy delays at the airport ticket counter, intense questioning by
airline employees and suspicious glances from fellow passengers. 

Airport security guards have combed through his luggage as he stood in front
of his constituents at the Atlanta airport. An airline employee has paged
him on board a flight for further questioning, he said. 

On at least 35 occasions, Lewis said, he was treated like a criminal because
his name, like that of Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., appeared on a
government terrorist watch list. 

While Kennedy managed to get security officials to end his airline hassles
after three weeks of trying, Lewis had no luck for months. Then he found his
own way around the security mess. 

Lewis added his middle initial to his name when making his airline
reservations. The computer system apparently didn't flag tickets for "Rep.
John R. Lewis," and the hassles suddenly ended. 

"The "R' is the only thing that has been saving me," Lewis said. 

Hundreds of passengers - possibly thousands - have contacted the
Transportation Security Administration complaining that the government's
secret watch lists are unfairly targeting innocent travelers and causing
travel headaches. Just last month, more than 250 passengers sought to be
removed from the list. 

But even more disconcerting, some of these travelers and security experts
say, is that the system can be easily circumvented by a simple adjustment in
one's name. 

"The no-fly list assumes that dangerous people are going to use the same
name the government thinks they use. If I'm Osama bin Laden, I'm going to
use a fake ID when I go on an airline and hijack it," said Aaron H. Caplan,
an attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union. "The whole notion that
keeping a list of names contributes to safety is kind of questionable,
especially when terrorists use aliases all the time." 

Some passengers who were told that their names matched others on the watch
lists said they have been tipped off by airline employees who were
embarrassed and apologetic about having to delay them when the passengers
were known to the employees. 

John W. Lewis, a 76-year-old doctor who lives in Camden, Maine, said he was
stopped and questioned before several Continental Airlines flights to
Houston, where he teaches a course. When he arrived for his usual flight in
June, airline agents had some advice for him. 

"They said, "You're not on the list, but your name is, and if you change
your name, it will be OK,' " Lewis recalled. 

So he changed the name on his credit card and his airline tickets to "Dr.
John W. Lewis," but it has not eliminated the problem entirely, he said.
Airline agents still stop him when he checks in at the ticket counter, he
said. But no one raises any questions on the return trip. 

The no-fly list is a collection of names from the FBI and intelligence
agencies that is managed by the Transportation Security Administration and
delivered to airlines. Each airline has its own system for matching the
names. 

A Department of Homeland Security official said that Kennedy and Lewis were
not on the no-fly list but that similar names had popped up on another, more
extensive airline terrorist watch list. 

Security experts said the government's no-fly list and other watch lists of
known terrorists come up with false matches because they are based on
antiquated technologies and are unevenly administered by airline employees
instead of by security personnel. 


Several airlines said privately they find it uncomfortable enforcing a
security policy created by the government, especially when they have to tell
some of their best customers - frequent fliers - that they are on a national
watch list. 

Douglas R. Laird, an aviation security consultant who helped develop another
government computer screening system, said the no-fly list is "pretty much
worthless." 

"Name search (systems) were relatively unimportant for the simple reason
that you don't have to do much to throw the computer off," Laird said.


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