Bombs Smuggled Into Ten High-Security Federal Buildings

Bad news today not related to Michael or the satellite Jacksons: an investigation by the Government Accountability Office into the security of Level IV federal buildings (this is only one step below offices like the Pentagon and CIA HQ) found that in ten out of ten cases, agents were able to smuggle bomb pieces into the buildings, assemble the bombs in bathrooms, and walk around freely with bombs in their suitcases.

“The (improvised explosive device) was made up of two parts — a liquid explosive and a low-yield detonator — and included a variety of materials not typically brought into a federal facility by an employee or the public,” the report says. Investigators obtained the components at local stores and over the Internet for less than $150, the report says.

In at least one instance, the agent put the f*cking bomb components through the X-Ray machine…  

…and was basically told to have himself a nice day with his explosive liquids and low-yield detonator.  This, as well,

The GAO also released a photograph of a guard asleep at his post and detailed an instance in which a woman placed an infant in a carrier on an X-ray machine while retrieving identification. Because the guard was not paying attention and the machine’s safety features had been disabled, the infant was sent through the X-ray machine, according to the report.

Note that Level IV federal buildings have more than 450 employees and include “high-risk law enforcement and intelligence agencies (such as the BATF, FBI, and DEA), courts, and judicial offices, and highly sensitive government records.”  Which means that at one of these locations, we’re employing a security guard who usually wants nothing more than to keep terrorists and explosives out of a major federal facility but today he’s just too sleepy for that stuff, and a woman who thinks it’s totally fine to give her baby an little X-Ray bath.

There’s other stuff too – in every district the agents checked, security guards had been certified without completing their training – but this is insane.  Meanwhile I have to throw away my damn Colgate Extra Whitening every time I want to get on an airplane.

Here is a sports metaphor for you, government: in practice, you take shots on your own goalie so that when it’s gametime, no one scores on you.  If the goalie lets every single practice shot into the net, that means that your team needs to seriously reevaluate its federal antiterrorism security measures.

Source: CNN.