Homeland Security my ass!

I have been in this country now for over 2 weeks and have just only now come to realize that my passport is defective. I have no idea how many people...supposedly security concious people...perused my passport between Bahrain airport and the DFW(with stopover in Paris)...not to mention the number of people that have given it a once over every time I have used it for ID purposes....and not one of them noticed anything suspect.

I must admit that while still in Bahrain I did notice that my passport seemed alot skinnier than usual...but didnt give it much thought. I had more things of interest on my mind than a suddenly skinny passport....as in what to take and what to leave...and the ever present turmoil of painful choices made and tears to deal with. The state of the passport was not even registering on my radar of things to worry about.

So...when I finally just stopped and took a good look at it I realized that there are pages missing from it. 4 pages to be exact. The pages that had stamps on them that are now missing dont interest me near as much as the fact that the first two pages are missing as well...the page that has my signature on it and personal info. I have wracked my brain but have no idea when those pages went missing in my passport as I used it quite often in Bahrain and remember seeing those pages not long ago...but the fact that it "got skinny" while still there means they went missing at some point before I left....hmmm? I smell something fishy there...

I remember travelling to America in Feb after 9/11 and the amount of security checks was astounding not to mention damn time consuming...but for the most part travellers took it all in stride....but the fact is my passport was not only looked at but every single page was scrutinized and checked...so seemingly was it this time all though I must admit I didnt pay as close attention to security checks as those fear filled months so soon after tragedy....it was just something I waited through and then picked up suitcases and trudged to the next one(I might have been a little more alert and on my toes had I known my passport had a potential to set off some security alarms somewhere)....then again its not my job to spot the potential "terrorist threats" now is it?

After watching newsreports all these years about Homeland Security and how it was making many American lives miserable by its all encompassing presence in their lives...Im really quite surprised...shocked...and actually quite pissed off that my passport breezed through the whole trip and subsequent ID checks without so much as a raised eyebrow...WTF!!! Homeland Security my ass...somebody needs some job training...and apparently I need a new passport.

I supposed I should be nervous trying to use it as I dont have any other form of ID at the moment...but if past experience is anything to go by....it shouldnt be a problem...sigh!

Now only one more question to ask...obviously someone tore some pages out of my passport ...now who might that be...and for what reasons? Anyone?