U.S. Must Rethink Policy of Deliberately Allowing Terrorists into U.S. for Surveillance Purposes, Says Intelligence Vice Chairman

From CNS News:

The vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence said Wednesday that the United States needs to rethink its existing policy of sometimes deliberately allowing people on the Terrorist Watchlist to board airliners and enter the country so they can be covertly tracked for intelligence-gathering purposes.

“Unfortunately, nowadays, if you want to watch somebody, you may be taking a risk that it’s another Abdulmutallab,” Sen. Kit Bond (R.-Mo.) told CNSNews.com, referring to the Al Qaeda terrorist who unsuccessfully tried to detonate an underwear bomb on Northwest Flight 253 on Christmas Day.

“I think we got to be a lot more careful who we let in to watch,” said Bond. “I would prefer--and if you put them on the No Fly list it tips them off that you know something about them—but, I think, for the safety of the United States we have to err on the side of keeping them out.”