Officials plugging leaks on security

Aviation officials are suddenly worried about loose lips.

Last fall, members of Congress and officials of the Department of Transportation were blunt about gaps in security.

In a speech, Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta revealed there were only 32 air marshals in the entire nation on Sept. 11. At a committee hearing, Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida displayed a box cutter that he said had not been detected by screeners in Fort Lauderdale.

But last week, John Magaw, the new chief of the Transportation Security Administration, warned everyone not to give away any secrets.

"We gave away three or four or five major elements" of how passengers are picked for extra screening, Magaw said. "We've got to quit doing that."

His advice was heeded.

On Thursday, Carol Hallett, the president of the Air Transport Association, was careful not to give many specifics about the airlines' luggage screening plans. "We are not going to tell Osama bin Laden and his terrorist thugs the techniques we are using."

She had another reason for complying with federal rules that prohibit disclosure of the rules.

"I don't want to go to jail."

Good may come of Reich furor

The controversy surrounding the White House appointment of Otto Reich to the top diplomatic post in Latin America may have had a unanticipated effect, at least according to Cris Arcos, a veteran of the U.S. diplomatic corps.

Last week, with the Senate on winter break, President Bush pushed through the appointment of Reich as assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs.

Reich, a native of Cuba, got in as a "recess appointment," a constitutional maneuver designed to bypass Congress.

Senate Democrats had refused to give Reich a confirmation hearing, citing his role in the Iran-Contra scandal. Reich once operated an office that tried to rally support for U.S. policy in Central America.

At the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Thursday, Arcos talked about how Washington historically ignored Latin America.

Not anymore. With all the publicity surrounding Reich, he said, "The president will at least know who the assistant secretary of state for Latin America affairs is."

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