Almost five years after September 11, 2001, the book titled Aviation Insecurity, by security analyst Andrew Thomas, published by Prometheus Books in 2003, is only becoming more timely.

Some books do not wear well over time, but this one does. Virtually every passing month further corroborates the discussion and analysis by Thomas of U.S. lack of aviation security before September 11 and now.

Reading successive chapters about the culture of compromise at the FAA, the actions of the White House and Congress to bail out the airlines immediately after September 11, and the creation of new layers of bureaucracy under the guise of security is like watching time lapse photography in motion. Especially now, while we watch the Middle East go up in flames and even commentators chastise the president for  supposedly not knowing it would happen, we see with the clarity of hindsight how thoroughly the airlines influenced governmental processes that were supposed to work for the public interest. The result is that our federal agencies, in spite of the courageous work of many lower personnel, are tainted and compromised by the aviation industry they were supposed to monitor and regulate. As one commentator said succinctly,