DHS: Recent Intelligence Points to Shoe-Bomb Threat

Shoe Wearers Flying Into US to Face 'Increased Scrutiny'

If you’re flying into the United States and you have shoes, it’s going to be a really inconvenient time to travel.

That’s the message out of Washington tonight, as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims to have “very recent intelligence” about a shoe-bomb threat related to some flight from somewhere coming into the United States.

The indications are that the intelligence is extremely vague, urging screeners initially to swab the shoes of everyone coming into the country. All they would say is that the “plot” is unrelated to the Olympics.

Swabbing seems to be just the beginning, however, as DHS officials were quoted as saying that passengers with shoes will experience “increased scrutiny in pat downs and full-body screening” in addition to all that shoe swabbing.

One official said the threat was “moderate” and that it was “a reminder that we are under constant threat.”

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.