What is 755,000 suspected names on a watchlist mean to those in the US?

Question

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071024/ts_alt_afp/usterrorismlistpolicesecurity
How do they do this? Why is this list is needed? Who recieves this type of special treatment?

And where could I see such a list?

I recently ate at Taco Bell, with a triple refried bean burrito, fire sauce and onions. And stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

So I course I would.
(sarcasism included)

Answer 1

It's just a list of all the moslem names in the country.

You don't need to see the list. If your last name is Mohammed, Ali, Khan, etc, you're going to be interrogated at the airport. You could make up your own list, and I could guarantee that it will match very accurately with the "official" list.

All of this nonsense is really designed to keep people employed. Just recently I was at the airport, clearing security with my expired driver's license. The guy scrutinized my license, and even though the picture looked like me and legitimately identified me, he didn't accept it because of the expiration date. How stupid. So I asked him "It's still a photo ID right, so what's the problem? Does an expired license make me more likely to hijack a plane?"

Luckily I carried my passport anyway even though I didn't need it for domestic travel, just because I know how empty headed the security personnel are.

Answer 2

Ah the old Watchlist - - - - it is a scare tactic as old as Assyria guaranteed to simmer hysteria.... What List, Where is it, who knows but YOU might be on the List.....


Yikes..... bear in mind that several sweepstake companies say that if your Initials ar Such & Such, you may be a Winner, and that one time after Joe McCartney was berated for having a bogus list raised his fist and indeed there was a 'Watchlist.' That LIST was a roll call of all the Hollywood Actors Actresses Directors Technicals who had attended a 'Support Russia Dinner' in 1943. It was true - - - YOUR NAME was on the list...

The list is a lot like Santa Claus the Easter Bunny and McCain's chances of becoming Prez - - - Elusive inconclusive exclusive pervasive evasive.....

Peace.......... //// ----------- O u O ------------ \\\ .........z

Answer 3

Radical muslims are already here and abroad.

17. Over 80 percent of the mosques in the United States "have been radicalized by ... Wahabi mosque under construction in Boston. Posted by angel90210 ...
18. www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=wahab

This is not from liberal news media that keeps all the liberals in the dark.

Answer 4

I saw it on Drudge and it is not a list of USA citizens as some seem to believe:

"The size of the list, typically used to check people entering the country through land border crossings, airports and sea ports, has been growing by 200,000 names a year since 2004"
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007...

Answer 5

1. They do this through intelligence... or should I say, lack of.

2. Anyone that has any anti-government involvment, of Arab decent, has purple hair and talks bad about Bush on Y! Answers or ask questions like this... hehe

3. The list is not open to the public.

Answer 6

I doubt it even makes sense to the people compiling the list. Arab name system is a mystery to just about everyone and I doubt the government has sense enough to do this kind of thing correctly.

Answer 7

It means that there is one suspected terrorist for every 1000 citizens and residents in the US.

Compare that to all of the people in all of the prisons in the US -- which is only ten times that many.

Answer 8

Did you really ask why the list was needed?

Islamists have declared war on the US.

Answer 9

finish reading the article or use a search on the net and I'm relatively sure you will at some point need a security clearance.
Why all the interest? Do you think your name is on it.

Answer 10

Its called keeping an eye on suspected terrorists, as opposed to doing nothing and watching innocent people get killed.