FBI: 400,000 names on terrorist watch list

The FBI has a problem. Buoyed by technology, it has now collected a list of 400,000 names on its terrorist watch list.

In a 12-month period that ended in March this year, the U.S. intelligence community added 1,600 names a day to fatten up a list growing by leaps and bounds. FBI officials cautioned that each nomination "does not necessarily represent a new individual, but may instead involve an alias or name variant for a previously watchlisted person."

Nevertheless, the list means the FBI has plenty of work to do every time it goes looking for someone on the list, or tries to use the list to prevent a terrorist attack. It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? How can the FBI possibly go through all these names, even with technology, to find the right people?

A recent congressional hearing outlined just how easy it is to get on the list. And the real question is, how hard is it to get off the list?

We hope there are plans in the works to cut down this list, eliminate the "maybe a terrorist" names and spend better quality time figuring out exactly who should be on this list.

For more on the FBI's massive list of terrorist suspects:
- see this Washington Post article

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