Back to the future

Well, who knew? I mean other than me who knew that if we backed the blame for 9-11-01 down far enough it would come to the security force at the individual airport boarding gates and not to crossed and confusing comms between competing federal agencies.

I've been saying it since 12 Sept '01 and wrote it here on 24 June '08, and now it finally comes to light here that the boys and girls at Massachusetts State Police, F Troop ~ you can't make this up ~ did not do their jobs, did not use common sense, did not accomplish their mission, did not live up to their oaths.  They purposefully decided that exceptionally suspicious actions by men, who turned out to be the ones who flew planes into the WTC, would not be investigated nor any action taken to identify them.  F Troop could have stopped the 9-11 attackers out of Logan and perhaps could have prevented all the attacks... if they'd simply done their jobs.

Was it all of them?  Certainly not, but all it took was one guy.  And that guy just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  I hear all the time when things go wrong and there's a meeting of some sort to try to right that wrong, it's invariably said:  We're not here to point fingers or fix blame, we just need to figure out what went wrong and fix it.  Well, when part of what went wrong was a stupid decision, the person who made that decision needs to pay a price for it, especially if other people were hurt because of his or her incompetence.

To our story...

In Sep '93, Joseph Lawless was appointed Massport Director of Security though he had no prior airport security experience.  Joe's job before he was appointed lord and master of Logan security? Driver for the governor of Massachusetts.  Okay, okay; he did more than just that, to be sure.  Here's a look at some of his CV:  he's got an MA in... wait for it: Education.   Then he should have been a gym teacher somewhere.  He arrested killers at gunpoint.  Me, too; and that's usually the best way to arrest them.  He tracked down a teenager who murdered a woman and her 2 children.  I've tracked down murderers as well, though they were all adults.  He said he "participated" in over 100 homicide investigations.  Oh.  When I was a CID Special Agent doing homicide investigations, I'd always take pictures of the location, starting with the establishing photos of course, careful to include in some of them the fine young Military Police officers who were there helping to keep our crime scene secure.  I'd have the photo lab print out some 8" x 10" glossies and then I'd give them to the MP depicted in the picture the next time I saw him or her.  Why?  So they'd feel important, which they were; so they'd feel like they had participated.  Sorry, Joe; saying you participated in 100 homicide investigations doesn't mean shit, not as far as running airport security is concerned anyway.  He raced into a burning building to save residents.  Oops, me too.  He "devised" an Executive Protection program.  No, what he did was take policies and procedures being used in other successful EP programs and put them to use in his own program.  That's not devising. That's compiling... some might call it plagarism.  He cites some "radical anti-abortionist" take-down but evidently all that happened was he got in the way of a pro-lifer who got too close to the governor.  Gee, that's like some Batman kinda shit, eh?  He claims "extensive training " in leadership and investigative techniques from the FBI and was called a "very good investigator".  Okay, then why was there no investigation into the terrorists doing recon at his airport?

In testimony about 9-11-01 before the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States on 5 November '03 ~ depicted here ~ we see, and not surprisingly, that his testimony is all about him and his accomplishments ~ nothing like a mea culpa in the entire statement.  He begins with the awe-inspiring "... under my leadership..." and continues "... Shortly after taking this post, I determined that the deterrence, detection and elimination of terrorist threats would be the fundamental focus of my mission at Massport."  Really?  Then why was your airport so fucked up?  Either you didn't know what you were doing or lacked the leadership ability to get it done or both. There are no other options.  See page 15 for how the CTI report of November 2001 blasts him by finding a major challenge facing Massport and [Logan] will be the understanding of why no action has apparently occurred on the many previous safety and security recommendations submitted from multiple sources, including its own department of public safety"... which is to say Lawless wasn't even following his own advice.

In my view, he has no honor.

Thank God we've got Captain America!

On pages 13 and 14 at the link above, Joe tells us he's becoming "increasingly concerned about the threat of global terrorism and the increased risk of a terrorist attack at Logan Airport" as 9-11-01 gets closer but all he's doing is sending reports up the chain complaining about this or that "concern".  Hey, Joe;  as we'll discover below, your boss didn't know shit from shinola.  It was up to you to do something.

What did this guy have to say after it was discovered that 9-11 terrorists easily boarded their flights at his airport and on his watch? With a straight face, he said: ''We have a very high security standard here. We are as secure, if not more secure, than any other airport in the US.''  The fact is that at that point in time, Logan was known as the least secure major airport in the US.  As the FAA Special Agent in the article linked to above says, rampant cronyism just doesn't get the job done.  Joe was stripped of his aviation security duties in Oct '01 but it looks here like he suffered little career damage as a result of his errors.  Evidently the "Port of Boston's top cop" got a friendly bump as he now chairs the American Association of Port Authorities Security Advisory Committee.  Yeah.  Whatever.  Note that while the announcement tells us Joe's still in charge of the safety and security of bridges and maritime properties; there is no listing for any responsibility for the security of anything that flies, not even spit-wads.  Too, it mentions his work at Logan but there's oddly no mention of 9-11-01 and how his incompetence played into the death of so many innocents. Ah, the little details.

Oh, and he also operated as liaison between State Police field operations and State Police detectives.   So, he was a coffee gofer.  Wow.

Next thing you know, he'll tell us his Red Cross BLS cert is up to date.

Rather than take his shame like a man, he whines about how he was blamed for things which were out of his control.  Leaders don't whine.  They get the job done or find someone who can or they get the hell out of the way.  Lawless defends his qualifications here and then snivels "...this need to blame people is not happening in Newark... what does that say about Boston?"  No, Joe. What does that say about you?  If you're the leader, then you're the straw that stirs the drink, not the one who most frequently says "Great question" at staff meetings.  If you're in multi-jurisdictional stuff, then you've done your homework and laid the groundwork so that every swingin' you-know-what knows you are in charge whether the face you're breathing in is the Basket Airways security specialist at Gate C39 or the TSA dork in charge of stacking shoe trays.  For all your silly college degrees and seminars you went to at tax-payer expense, for all the cronyism that got you where you are, the truth is that if they don't know you're in charge by what you do and how you carry yourself, then you're not in charge.

The plain fact of the matter is this: 13 years as a "statie", and with all the improvements he said he suggested or made at Logan, when you boil it down, he failed to get answers to ~ let alone ask ~ the most basic police question: Who are those guys and what are they doing here?  If he had his little ducks in a row then he should have ordered or asked or hinted, Hey, would someone please go over there and find out who those guys are and what they're doing?  But he did nothing.  And we can see here the cost of his negligence and incompetence.

Former Massport Director Virginia Buckingham tells her rather poignant tale here.  And while it's oh so sad that she ended up resigning over Logan's failures, someone had to fall on his or her sword.  With multiple sightings of suspicious persons taking video of boarding gates in the days before the attacks, why was nothing done?  It happened on her watch, she was in charge of the entire airport, with Lawless running security.  Before that, she served Governor Weld beginning in '91, first as spokesperson and later as Chief of Staff. She was retained as CS by Governor Celucci in '97. In '99 she had a child in Apr '99 and was appointed to head MassPort in September '99.  So, how does paper-pushing qualify her or anyone else to command men a/o women with guns.  The highest ethic, the most important thing, the prime directive, the moral imperative for anyone whose decisions touch human life is to protect human life first.  All other considerations come second.  Here she says she wanted to have security professionals on staff after 9-11, that she had contracted with an Israeli aviation security consultant for some help after the attacks.   She authorized an audit by CTI to conduct a security survey.  Maybe she should have had someone other than Joe Lawless as her security chief because all the extra people and stuff she wanted to rent is supposed to be what real security chiefs know and do.  She wanted to be a lumber-jack but either didn't or couldn't carry her end of the log.  And people died because of it.  Buckingham resigned but only after negotiating a large severance package for herself. She should have just fallen on her sword.  Since her resignation she went to work as a deputy editorial page editor for the Boston Herald in January '03.  Read here a couple of editorials about the need for things to be done right at Logan.

Okay, I'm digging the hot MP-5.

Looks here like F Troop thinks they have their act together finally but what did they have in place on 9-11-01 that's so different on 1 April 2002, when the page linked to went up?  Maybe there was no page at all before that, I don't know.  Oh, wait, I think I get it: it's just another April Fool's prank designed to hoodwink people into thinking every thing's okey-dokey.  And what has Massachusetts done about protecting the people in the passing years?  Have they hired warriors to take over and kick ass and make things right?  Nope.  Why, it was just on 14 Jan '10 that the fine, enlightened progressive governor appointed Marian McGovern to run MSP.  Governor Patrick says here that he's sure she's "the best person to lead the State Police." Bull. Shit.  Massachusetts has been known for ever as a cradle of cronyism, second only to Chicago in corruption and sleaze in government.  McGovern's credentials go straight in the toilet here as we read about her open "staunch" support of uber-liberal Hillary Clinton as a presidential candidate.  Leaders in law enforcement should keep their political opinions to themselves inasmuch as they may be called upon to serve under leaders with whom they disagree politically.  That's the way it is in the US military, that's how it should be in law enforcement.

 

Historic occasion. See? It wasn't about how good she is at her job although that's the cover she's flying under, it's about making history.  Duval Patrick, the first black governor of Massachusets wanted to be the one to appoint the first female MSP Superintendent, who just happens to have worked with all her heart and soul for the election of Hillary Clinton as President.  That's it.  That's how things get done in liberal government bureaucracies: nothing's done on merit, it's all who you know, the color of your skin, whether you sit or stand when you take a leak.  And who the hell picked Beethoven's 9th ~ Ode to Joy as the theme music for the bagpipe band.  Geeeez. 

 

Does she inspire confidence or what?  She looks like she should be selling hand-made jewelry at some freakin' medieval fair.  In police work, the first step in the force continuum is physical presence and the most important part of that is if you look like you can handle yourself.  Sorry, but having read Marian's CV, and seen her in these videos, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say she doesn't belong in leadership just because she put in her time in various departments in MSP.  Nor does anybody, man or woman, deserve leadership based on time in service or college degrees.

Why am I picking on these guys?  Because you need to know you can't trust most of the people you believe are going to save your butt from being bombed.  When DSH was formed, many who became senior managers just moved over from other federal agencies, not necessarily because they were experts or trained in any way in the new disciplines but just because the new agency needed to fill chairs.  Mid-level managers moved from other federal agencies because they were bored a/o wanted to add some lines to their CV, many are the manifestation of the Peter Principle.  Sure, some wanted to be part of the cool new counterterrorism group for good honorable reasons but too much of it wasn't done right and isn't being done right yet. See here and here.  And, back to Logan, read here about a janitor finding a taser on one of the planes there.

Oh, guess what else I found in my research for this post.  Joe Lawless has help with his American Association of Port Authorities work.  His Vice Chairman on the Security committee, here, is Arif Ghouse who runs security at the Port of Seattle.  Doesn't that make all you Starbuckers warm and fuzzy to know that the man who makes policy to keep terrorists away is probably a pious Muslim.  I'll bet you he didn't get his job because he's the most qualified person out there but because he's Muslim and Seattle wants everyone to know they're oh so enlightened and tolerant.  So not only does Seattle and the rest of us have to worry whether Arif is truly competent at his job but also that he may have already instituted policies and procedures which terrorists can easily exploit. 

Nah. It'll never happen that way.

We can't afford to keep doing things the way we've done them before.  By doing so, we will certainly reap the same bitter fruit in the future.  Those charged with ensuring our well-being need to tell us the truth so we can be prepared, not hide information from us that we may need in order to protect ourselves.  They need to hire the absolute best people available to do the protecting, the training, the readiness efforts; not blow sunshine up our skirts by telling us that under-qualified bozos are worthy of our trust.

There have been lots of movies over the last several years with comic book heroes saving the day.  It ain't gonna happen that way.  And, as I've tried to point out above, it's not gonna be "leaders" like Lawless, Buckingham, and McGovern... so it's you who needs to be ready to save the day.  And if you're not settled into that reality, then you don't know your enemy and you need to get up to speed ASAP.

How can you save the day?  How 'bout if you see someone behaving suspiciously, such as something as "innocent" as recording at airport boarding gates, then you start recording them with your cell phone, or at least get close and take some still pics.  If they're in vehicles, get shots of those vehicles to include license plates.  As soon as you can, take your pics to airport security and insist that a report be taken and the photos be made part of the report.  If security refuses, get the name(s) of those who refused and then start climbing the ladder at that airport until somebody listens to you.  Go to the press, if necessary.  Something else to consider if airport security won't take you seriously, go to the local cops or the local office of the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force, which your area may or may not have.   Perhaps the best thing you can do is call 911 and let the operator know what you've seen.  It's on tape then.  They can send out a patrol officer right away if the totality of circumstances leads them to that, or they might transfer you to their version of the JTTF or you can call them yourself.  But whatever the case, do something.  And, if in trying to get security a/o cops to listen to your suspicions and look at your video or pics, don't give them the only one you've got.  Save it somehow, send it to yourself in email or some other trick you can come up with and don't ever give your evidence to a cop or security officer who you believe is Muslim.  Be sensitive about how you do it, but Muslims are loyal to other Muslims first. That's a fact, jack.  You can't trust 'em.  So don't.

I've tried to write some training/readiness stuff at this blog over the years and you're invited to peruse as much as you want.  It's all free, it's all  right, it's all true and it's all totally up to you whether you choose to use any of it or not. 

So, get to it now.  Go on, be that guy.

Update: 23 Sep 11 ~ I told you so. It was security at the boarding gates that let the killers onto those planes as you can and should read riiiiiiiight here.

Comments

[Undaunted]

Thanks much. Some info I put in "Panzers in Paris" might be what you're looking for. Let me know if you're looking for more.

[LauraB]

Your posts are always superb with detailed analysis and reasoning. If one could draw a complete map of the insidious nature of politics, it'd horrify many who go along blinder'd.

I would love to see a post on handling multiple attackers such as at the state fair. Assuming one is armed and ready - and that leaving the scene isn't an option - what to do? It is an area of tactics that I have no experience with and worry about...(it is also why I tend to avoid all such highly-populated events...)

[Samuel Schiller]

I have been "that guy" for many years as a US Marine and a retired twenty year veteran of a major police department. Your blog has encouraged me to be "that guy" again. I have followed your lead, planned for the worst, and sharpened my focus. Just thought you'd like to know that you're making a difference.

[JJ]

Hi Undaunted,

Excellent post, but I've found some more info on pre-9/11 "intelligence" i.e. intel that was not allowed to be shared with the FBI, a full 2 years before 9/11.

See here, pg xxix, from "In the present context, the Left succeeded in making the United States vulnerable to 9/11..." to "...sow defeat for America in Iraq.":

http://books.google.com/books?id=jSNyrWboYmkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=united+in+hate&hl=en&src=bmrr&ei=VF4kTpixE4bymAXS2qSeAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=book-preview-link&resnum=1&ved=0CDMQuwUwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false