Because the former is regulated by companies that can be (and have been) sued, the latter is regulated by bureaucracies.

Also, think of our men in the Nazi POW camp who engineered the “Great Escape”: they created fake passports almost ex nihilo.

Um, US passports are valid for ten years – TEN YEARS. Do you think people don’t age? People don’t change over time?

Now just imagine the immigration officer, the ticket agent, etc. who is looking at passports all day – just how many of those valid passports look exactly like the legitimate holder of that passport?

Not to mention – is it really that hard to change the photo? I would imagine with the right equipment it would be fairly easy to “doctor” the passport in any way possible.

So, unless we are going to start including fingerprints on the passports, or include DNA screenings before flights . . .

Putin has absolutely no need to ‘aim’ Iran at the US. We’re the ‘Great Satan’ remember? So Iran is already aimed at us. Putin certainly is as aware as Kerry is right? So Putin knew long ago that,

“the region will be far less stable and far more threatened if Iran were to have a nuclear weapon. It will spur a nuclear arms race. It has risks for greater terrorism. It will be destabilizing. ” Kerry said the threat extends beyond the possibility that Iran could actually use the weapon on its enemies, specifically Israel. Iran simply having a nuclear weapon would “spur a nuclear arms race” in the region and could be used to support terrorists groups like Hezbollah, he said. Interview with SecState John Kerry – March 5, 2013

But it’s not a possibility, it’s a certainty. Iran getting nukes leads to nuclear proliferation into the hands of unstable, third world nations and other jihadist states. That will, sooner or later result in terrorists getting their hands on nukes. They will use them on us, as we are pathetically vulnerable to a nuclear terrorist attack from a nuke concealed within a shipping container on a commercial vessel bound for a US port.

What Putin is really interested in however is the psychological impact of a successful nuclear terrorist attack upon a US city(s). The domestic reaction will be the formation of a ‘fortress America’ mindset. An isolationist mindset on steroids.

We’ll retreat to our borders and seal them and the rest of the world can go hang and Russia and China will be there to seize upon the geopolitical ‘opportunity’. And it will be their turn to rule the seas with all the military advantages that confers.

Neither the Mullah’s nor Putin are stupid, they’re using each other. It’s a marriage of temporary common interest. As for their planning, the fact that no plan survives contact with reality has never stopped aggressors from scheming.

I’m at a loss to comprehend how Putin can imagine that he can ‘aim’ the mullah’s rage against the West.

Some Russian immigrants hold to the view that Putin is a frenemy of Tehran: making it impossible for the fanatics to ultimately be successful in their enterprise.

This is a faith built upon a presumption: that across all the years to come, the Persians will stay stupid and never figure out Russian perfidy.

To top that faith, we have Barry telling Jerusalem to stop knocking off evil technicians — those fine fellows who’re trying to give atomic weapons to suicide troops.

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The last time Moscow got so clever, Stalin was enabling Adolf so that the latter could destroy Western democracies — after which the Red Army was to move in as ‘Liberators.’

And we all know how that perfect plan worked out.

Long ago Margeret Thatcher pointed out that,
“Rogue states never turn out to be quite the pariahs they are deemed. They are only able to cause, or at least threaten to cause, mayhem because they enjoy the covert support – usually by means of technology transfers – of one or more major powers within the charmed circle of global ‘good guys’.”

Terrorism’s infrastructure consists of; the individual terrorist or team, the terrorist organization, the individuals that provide monetary support for terrorist orgs, the rogue states that provide logistical support to the terrorist orgs and the enabling nations; the “major powers within the charmed circle of global ‘good guys'” who prevent actions being taken against the rogue nations.

The consistent obstruction in the UN by Russia and China of effective international sanctions against the rogue nations… is not accidental. Nor is Russia’s critical assistance and facilitation of Iran’s pursuit of nukes…

“The stolen-passport market has been enhanced by the development of technology that can alter photos or match people to already-existing photos.”

I believe that the old passport also has a number and a date of issue and that sort of thing, so there are fairly simple ways to distinguish between the two.

As far as the photos go, even though it’s difficult with modern technology, passport photos can be altered by those in the know. Plus, people sometimes can get passports that have photos that already resemble them. There are millions of stolen passports, and the people who deal in this are probably very knowledgeable and experienced.