Stupidocracy at Work

David Aikman

Ever since 9/11, one of the main agencies working at the task of defending ordinary Americans against acts of terrorism has been the Transportation Security Administration. The good folks at this agency are the ones who ensure that, when you proceed through airport security checks, you clutch your toothpaste (no more than three ounces), shampoo, and shaving cream in a clear plastic bag as though you were a colostomy patient.

In the rush to protect America’s air travel after 9/11, a lot of folks were hired who—we might say—were “common-sense-challenged.” There were stories of elderly ladies being taken aside and body-searched, of Members of Congress misidentified as possible terrorists, and even of people who looked “Middle Eastern” (whatever that means) being taken off planes. A high proportion of those hired by the TSA seemed to be immigrants with minimal command of English, which of course does wonders for the average American traveler’s sense of security.

One recent incident, however, has made it clear that, among the many qualifications presumably sought by the TSA among its employees, common sense is not one of them. A British seven-year-old named Javaid Iqbal was being rewarded by his Pakistani parents with a trip to Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. Unfortunately, his name was a real problem. It turned out to be the same as a suspected Pakistani terrorist deported from the U.S. shortly after 9/11.

Signs of impending difficulties in the U.S. first occurred during check-in at Manchester Airport in England. But the authorities there seemed to notice that Javaid—traveling with three siblings under the age of nine and his mother, who is an M.D. (his father is an anesthetist)—just possibly was not the same person as the adult deportee with the same name. The family boarded the flight in time, flew to Orlando, and had a wonderful time.

It was on their return that what might be called the dictatorship of the stupidocracy went to work. At both Orlando, where the family boarded a flight back to Philadelphia. Then, in Philadelphia, Javaid and his mother were detained and interrogated by TSA officials for hours. Because the interrogation went on so long, their tickets back to the UK were canceled and they missed their scheduled flight out of Philadelphia. Poor Javaid was in tears several times.

Cases of identical names of travelers are common enough. But was it really likely that a seven-year-old, traveling with his mother and siblings, was a possible suicide bomber? Couldn’t some reasonably serious official have said, “We’ve searched their luggage, asked them some questions, and now it’s time to send them on their way”?

America is not unique in having a bureaucracy that sometimes seems to run things oppressively. Germany, for example, is notorious for bureaucratic nit-picking, as is Japan. But where America does seem to be unique is in the incredible lack of common sense of some of the government’s bureaucratic decisions. Fortunately, in Javaid Iqbal’s case sanity eventually prevailed and the family was able to return—several hours late—to the UK. But the impression broadcast to the world is that America, in protecting itself against terrorists, has become not only heartless, but profoundly stupid. That’s a pity.  

David Aikman is a Senior Fellow of The Trinity Forum and a naturalized U.S. citizen.

1 Responses (comments are closed) • Provocations, Global Culture, Leadership, Society, David Aikman, Fri 24 Aug 2007