Airport Screener Bassam Khalaf considers himself
a rap artist. And recently he was also considered a federal employee. Khalaf was a
screener at Bush Intercontinental Airport until someone in the federal government found
out Khalaf is also known as the "Arabic Assassin" in the rap community. "I
kept my music and my job separate," he said. "I never brought my music to the
job. I was a real good screener." Khalaf said the firing was unfair because he is
only exercising his freedom of speech.
But the federal government apparently didn't approve of his profanity-laced
lyrics. That also included threats to blow up buildings with airplanes. "I'm
glad the TSA fired him," said Houston City Councilmember Michael Berry. "I feel
safer because of it. The TSA with Egg on their face again, wouldn't talk. Khalaf was fired
during the standard TSA two-year trial period.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Airport Screener Sadeq Naji Ahmed again shows you are not safer, because
the TSA isn’t screening the screeners. He’s also proof positive that radical
Muslims in the military can get away with saying anything, while other soldiers cannot.
For almost two years, Ahmed was a baggage screener at Detroit’s Metro Airport,
despite his background.
Between 1999 and the 9/11 terror attacks, Ahmed was an airman stationed at Eglin Air Force
Base in Florida. He made statements in support of Osama Bin Laden, said
he was not against the 9/11 attacks, that the U.S. deserved to be
attacked, that he wouldn’t fight if the U.S. took action in Iraq, and that U.S.
aircraft over Iraq should crash.
Ahmed was an information systems analyst with security clearances. Because of Ahmed’s
statements, his security clearance to classified information and restricted areas of the
base was suspended on September 17, 2001, and he was assigned administrative duty. On
September 28, 2001 - even though he had two months to go on his tour of duty - Ahmed was
given an expedited discharge, in order to effect Ahmed’s “removal from the U.S.
military as quickly as possible,” according to his indictment. Rather than do the
right thing and court-martial him, the Air Force made his life easier.
Immediately, the TSA quickly hired Ahmed. In December 2001, Ahmed became
a baggage screener at Metro Airport, when it was handled by a private contractor. Remember
how the TSA was supposed to improve screening security and background checks for
screeners, when it took over? In October 2002, BEFORE doing a background check on him, the
TSA hired Ahmed. He lied on his application regarding the circumstances of his discharge
and security clearance loss.
But the lies - for which he’s now being tried by a member of the U.S. Attorney’s
Terrorism Task Force - weren’t discovered until August 2003, when Ahmed was
terminated.
Almost a full year to do a background check before discovering lies on an
application? Allowing the lying employee on the job for a year before he was
screened? Isn’t the background check supposed to take place BEFORE the employee is
hired? Don’t you feel safer, now that TSA security is in place?
Incredibly, TSA spokeswoman Amy von Walter feels Ahmed’s case demonstrates the
diligence of her agency’s background checks. “This incident highlights the
importance of the in-depth background checks performed by the agency,” she told a
Detroit newspaper.
No, the incident highlights the incompetence of the agency’s background checks and
the absurdity that a pro-Bin Laden, anti-American employee could be on the job for nearly
a year before that check is thoroughly conducted.
In the year before he was terminated, the disloyal Ahmed could have easily endangered
American travelers’ lives. He could have easily allowed baggage containing explosives
to pass undetected onto aircraft. But the TSA isn’t the only government agency to
blame for Ahmed’s almost two-year reign of possible danger to Americans. The Air
Force deserves its fair share of blame.
Rather than court-martial and dishonorably discharge Ahmed, the Air Force took the meek
course and set the stage for possible danger against civilian Americans flying the now
not-so-friendly skies. Had Ahmed been a non-Muslim, the government would have gotten
tough.
Soldiers don’t have unfettered free speech rights. Article 134, known as the
“Disloyal Statements” provision of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice
provides for penalties by court-martial for “disloyal statements” made
"with the intent to promote disloyalty or disaffection toward the United States by
any member of the armed forces or to interfere with or impair the loyalty to the United
States."
Ahmed’s treasonous statements fit the U.S. government’s “Manual for Courts
Martial‘s” definition of punishable disloyal statements, like a glove:
“Examples include praising the enemy, attacking the war aims of the United States . .
. . A declaration of personal belief can amount to a disloyal statement if it disavows
allegiance owed to the United States by the declarant.”
Unlike Ahmed, soldiers have been court-martialed and brought up on Article 134
“disloyal statement” charges for:
A letter to the editor questioning the war in Iraq;
Comments to a reporter questioning the war in Iraq, but saying he’d do his part and
fight; and
Telling other soldiers he would not fight in Vietnam if ordered to.
But those soldiers had one thing in common: Unlike Ahmed, they’re not Muslim. They
didn’t get handled with politically correct kid gloves. And unlike Ahmed, not one of
them praised the enemy and wished for America’s failure.
Yet, Ahmed was rewarded with an honorable discharge and evading his required duty,
allowing him to get screening jobs at airports. And courtesy of weak-kneed U.S. Air Force
and incompetent TSA officials, Sadeq Naji Ahmed had almost a year to endanger American
passengers lives. We’re just lucky he didn’t.
Feel Unsafe, Very Unsafe: TSA’s Islamic, America-Hating Screener April 1, 2005 By
Debbie Schlussel
www.debbieschlussel.com |
