A recent Government Accountability Office investigation into the passport system used fraudulent Birth Certificates, Driver's Licenses and Identification Cards to "easily" obtain legal passports. These passports were then used to obtain boarding passes and go successfully through airport security. I'll second Debbie Schlussel in saying "we are NOT safer than before 9/11", as a matter of fact it is becoming more apparent that we are much less safe.

For years now the State Department, which issues passports, has admitted that their investigation systems are flawed. They have for the most part focused on the quantity of passports issued rather than verifying that those applying are using true and accurate documentation. As you'll see below Rickard Aker, a spokesman for the State Department, in hearing of the fraudulently obtained passports said "oops."

For the illegal alien a passport allows them to qualify for a ton of government taxpayer funded services by using the passports as proof of citizenship. Hell, it can be used by them to register to vote. Most "motor voter" laws will allow them to do this at the time of getting their Driver's License.

In an article from the AP they looked over the GAO report which states that the following methods were used. In each case the investigator used over the counter hardware and software and simulated the actions of an identity thief. The investigator received a legitimate US Passport in 4 out of 4 tries in different names. Ever feel like voting 4 times...?

• the investigator used the Social Security number of a man who died in 1965 to obtain a Social Security card, a fake New York birth certificate and a fake Florida driver's license. He received a passport four days later.
• the investigator used a 5-year-old boy's information but identified himself as 53 years old on the passport application. He received that passport seven days later.
• the investigator used fake documents to get a genuine Washington D.C. identification card. He then used the card to apply for a passport and received it the same day.
• the investigator used a fake New York birth certificate and a fake West Virginia driver's license and got the passport eight days later.

It is obvious that the State Department is absolutely horrible in validating whether identification and citizenship documents are authentic or cheap forged copies. Most fraudulent documentation can be found in the black market on the street for a few hundred dollars at most, which can then be used to obtain these "legitimate documents". And then my fellow citizens these illegal aliens, terrorists, criminals and other upstanding individuals can zoom around our country and the world under the guise of legitimacy. They can open fraudulent bank accounts, obtain weapons and other materials they need and use these passports as proof of US Citizenship at will.

It has been over 7 years since September 11, 2001 and these people who claim to be competent haven't done a thing to end potential terrorist attacks on this country. Meanwhile they have continued to ramp up restrictions on law abiding citizens. They have done little to combat the true criminals. Our borders are still open, documents are still able to be obtained with fraud and bank accounts are being used to funnel money to criminal and terrorist organizations.

these tests show the State Department - which processes applications and issues passports - does not have the ability to ensure that supporting documents are legitimate, said Janice Kephart, an expert on travel document security who worked on the 9/11 Commission report.

Kephart said this is the same problem that enabled some of the 9/11 hijackers to use fake documents to get Virginia driver's licenses, which they used to board airplanes. Since 2001, states have taken measures to make driver's licenses more secure.

"We have to address the ... document issue in a very big way, and we have yet to do that across the board," Kephart said.

As far as states taking measures to ensure their driver's licenses are secure, it really doesn't matter until all states, including places like Maryland, stop pandering to illegal aliens and secure their licenses as well. These states put every citizen in the country at risk, not only on the road, but through other means.

State Department spokesman Richard Aker said the agency regrets that it issued these four passports.

"The truth is that this was human error," Aker said.

Hahah!

"Hey sorry we have issued thousands of passports to terrorists, but that's the way the cookie crumbles folks!" The asses in charge of the passport system should be fired immediately and they should be relegated to the job of barker at a circus freak sideshow in perpetuity.

Debbie points out the sad truth "... don't think that Citizenship and Immigration Services, which issues green cards, citizenship, and certain visas, is any different. It isn't."

These are the types of people in control of our country folks and you should really question again whether you feel safer than you did after 9/11 because I certainly do not.