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Experts Praise Airport Security Warning
Theodore Postol, MIT professor of science, technology and national security, said the incidents described by TSA are "exactly the kind of problem that has worried me incessantly."
On Wednesday, it appeared the most recent incident, earlier this month in San Diego, was innocent.
  Passengers remove their coats at a security checkpoint at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in this 2004 file photo. Airport security officers around the nation have been alerted by federal officials to look out for terrorists practicing to carry explosive components onto aircraft, based on four curious seizures at airports since last September. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, FILE) (Ted S. Warren - Associated Press) 
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The TSA bulletin said a U.S. person _ either a citizen or a foreigner legally here _ checked baggage at San Diego this month containing two ice packs covered in duct tape. The ice packs had clay inside them rather than the normal blue gel, TSA said.
In this and the other incidents, once TSA officers had detected, and in some cases photographed, the suspicious items, police and sometimes the FBI were called in to question the travelers, TSA spokesman Chris White said. None has been linked to criminal or terrorist groups, but some of the investigations continue.
San Diego Harbor Police Chief Kirk Sanfilippo said officers found four ice packs, not two; they were wrapped in clear tape, not duct tape; and there was no clay inside.
"It was not a threat. It was not a test run," Sanfilippo said. "The whole thing was very explainable and understandable."
A female U.S. citizen in her late 60s wrapped the 10- to 15-year-old ice packs to prevent leaks because they had grown brittle, Sanfilippo said. She had a legitimate medical reason for carrying ice packs and did not appear to be able to afford to buy new ones. He could not explain the differences in the TSA bulletin.
"It's always possible this is the same incident" mentioned in the warning bulletin, TSA's White said. "But we didn't distribute this as a specific threat. It was meant to say what things we are finding and to tell our people to be aware of unusual things."
In Baltimore, Cpl. Jonathan Green of the Maryland Transportation Authority police said a couple was interviewed and released Sept. 16, 2006. The TSA bulletin said the pair checked luggage containing a plastic bag with a block of processed cheese taped to another plastic bag holding a cellular phone charger.
Green said the suspicious items, including a car charger for a DVD player, were determined not to be a threat and were given back to them.
"I'm glad they are picking up these things whatever they turn out to be," said Brian Jenkins, a RAND Corp. terrorism expert. "The TSA did their job. The police did their job. No sweat."
Jenkins doubted these four incidents will be linked to terrorism. Given the time over which they occurred, "if they were connected to one another or one was connected to terrorists, we would have a good idea by now and this would have been high alert, not a routine intelligence bulletin," Jenkins said.
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Associated Press writers Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Kasey Jones in Baltimore contributed to this report.
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On the Net:
Link to view TSA advisory: http:/
TSA statement: http:/
