Terrorist Wanted Posters -- Coming To An Airport Near You!

The U.S. State Department wants the help of travelers to find its list of the 26 most-wanted terrorists worldwide -- and they're willing to pay for the information.  In the Dec. 6 issue (subscribers only) of Aviation Daily, I did a story about this new effort, where the State Department, working in cooperation with TSA, will distribute wanted posters at airports across the country under its Rewards For Justice program.

The program offers bounties of up to $25 million for captured terrorists, with Osama bin Laden leading the pack at a $25 million reward. Others on the list include $10 million for Mullah Omar, charged with sheltering bin Laden in Afghanistan in the years before 9/11; and up to $5 million for Jamal Mohammad Al-Badawi, wanted in connection with the Oct. 12, 2000, bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen, which killed 17 U.S. sailors.

"Airports are a major travel center where people are more security aware," said State Dept. spokesman Kendal Smith. "This program is part of a longer-term State Dept. effort to get the posters hanging in places with high visibility." The posters will appear at airports in New York City, Houston, Kansas City, Newark, Sacramento and Washington, D.C., along with Canada and Germany.

I'm all for helping Uncle Sam keep an eye out for terrorists, but I'm also nervous about what this might unleash at the nation's airports.  Flyers are already overly alert about anything that looks even the tiniest bit suspicious.  And while it's good to be vigilant, I just hope that this effort won't turn into people alerting airport security to anyone who even looks vaguely Muslim/Arabic, whether they resemble those on the poster or not.