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> we cannot say that the TSA has never caught a terrorist.

But why? I am sure any such catch would have been paraded in front of media for months. Are you saying they caught a terrorist with a bomb red-handed but hid it and instead shipped the guy secretly to a prison in another country? If not, that then I think we can say most definitely that they have not caught a single terrorist. Would you agree?

> but hijackings were certainly not uncommon prior to 9/11

Obviously hijackings were not that bad. That is the reason the first two planes ended up being used as projectiles, because people thought it was a regular hijacking. Within hours everyone in the country including passengers of the plane that went down in PA learned to not think about hijackings anymore in the same way. So the problems basically "fixed" itself immediately.

You are right the # of hijackings is now lower. TSA presence might have a part to play, that's plausible. But because of the previous paragraph it also becomes irrelevant. So the reasons for having the TSA evaporate away again.




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