Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Are you now - or have you ever been - a terrorist?

A friend was renewing his Ohio aircraft registration and mentioned a form that he was required to fill out, affirming that he's not a terrorist and hasn't helped any designated terrorist organizations.

It's known as the Declaration Regarding Material Assistance/Non- Assistance to a Terrorist Organization (DMA) form and it contains the following questions to which you're supposed to check a yes or no box:

1. Are you a member of an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List?

2. Have you used any position of prominence you have with any country to persuade others to support an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List?

3. Have you knowingly solicited funds or other things of value for an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List?

4. Have you solicited any individual for membership on an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List?

5. Have you committed an act that you know, or reasonably should have known, affords “material support or resources” to an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List?

6. Have you hired or compensated a person you know to be a member of an organization on the U.S. Department of State Terrorist Exclusion List, or a person you knew to be engaged in planning, assisting, or carrying out an act of terrorism?

Seriously - if you're a terrorist, are you actually going to answer 'yes' to any of these questions?

If you've "hired or compensated" a person you "knew to be engaged in planning, assisting, or carrying out an act of terrorism," are you going to admit it by answering yes to question #6?!?

The form is ridiculous. It requires the time of the applicant to fill out and countless hours (and wages) of probably thousands of public employees to create, maintain and publish the form; accept, review and maintain the filled out forms; and - maybe, though doubtful - follow up on the information contained in the complete form.

And it doesn't do anything to make our nation safer since anyone engaged in any of the actions questioned wouldn't admit to it.

In other news, Unauthorized Plane Flown By "Egyptian Students" Lands in Gainesville

Futility thy name is the U.S. Government - and yes, this definitely qualifies for 'stuck-on-stupid' status!

p.s. Do you wonder how many other such forms might exist in our various layers of government - and the waste they entail by their requirement?

1 comment:

Don M said...

There is a similar form required by the BATFE-ieio for people purchasing guns.

They ask the question so that when you fill it in, if they run your ID and get a hit, they can charge you with making false statements.

WV: calost- Californa is lost? Just look under Oregon's butt.

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