[IP] more on Cat Stevens deported due to a typo

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren@vortex.com>
Date: September 26, 2004 6:29:38 PM EDT
To: dave@farber.net
Cc: lauren@vortex.com
Subject: Re: [IP] more on Cat Stevens deported due to a typo

Dave, actually, that brief "Time" article -- which is being widely
quoted -- can easily be interpreted in a very different way.  That
is, that the U.S. did *indeed* intend on stopping the person
commonly known as Cat Stevens (note that the government continues to
assert that *he* is the one about whom they have unspecified, secret
"security concerns").  The typo issue seems to revolve around the
matter of why he was allowed to board the plane in the first place,
not on if Cat Stevens (under whatever name with whatever spelling)
was supposed to be allowed to fly at all.  The issue of whether or
not he should be on the no-fly list in any form (which is what Straw
is talking about) appears to be an orthogonal issue.  Viewed this
way, the government may still be asserting that they got their man,
only a bit late (after the plane took off).

Here's the key graf, what do you think?

   The Yusuf Islam incident earlier this week, in which the former Cat
   Stevens was denied entry into the U.S. when federal officials
   determined he was on the government's "no-fly" antiterror list,
   started with a simple spelling error. According to aviation sources
   with access to the list, there is no Yusuf Islam on the no-fly
   registry, though there is a "Youssouf Islam." The incorrect name was
   added to the register this summer, but because Islam's name is
   spelled "Yusuf" on his British passport, he was allowed to board a
   plane in London bound for the U.S. The Transportation Safety
   Administration alleges that Islam has links to terrorist groups,
   which he has denied; British foreign minister Jack Straw said the
   TSA action "should never have been taken."

--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@pfir.org or lauren@vortex.com or lauren@privacyforum.org
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - 
http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, Fact Squad - http://www.factsquad.org
Co-Founder, URIICA - Union for Representative International Internet
                     Cooperation and Analysis - http://www.uriica.org
Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://www.vortex.com/lauren-blog

 - - -

> From: John Levine <johnl@iecc.com>
> Date: September 26, 2004 4:01:13 PM EDT
> To: dave@farber.net
> Cc: Subject: Re: [IP] Cat Stevens deported due to a typo
>
> http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,702062,00.html
>
> Yesterday's online edition of Time says that the name on the no-fly
> list was Youssouf Islam, not Yusuf Islam.  They were looking for
> somebody else.
>
> I suppose that puts him in good company with at least three members of
> Congress and (according to the same article) an air marshall who
> wasn't allowed to fly for several weeks due to a similar mistake.
>
> Regards,
> John Levine, johnl@taugh.com, Taughannock Networks, Trumansburg NY
> http://www.taugh.com
>
> -------------------------------------

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