Don't be confused by the title of this. I'm not talking about gays in the military here. The subject is terrorism and who is protecting whom from what and how are they doing it? Who knows what? Who are they telling? Who has the need to know and who is in charge of making that determination?
Remember the aftermath of 9/11? The press was filled with the tales of compartmentalization of information. It was a bureaucratic nightmare with competition for resources and lots of "not invented here" discrediting which prevented applying what we knew where it could protect us. In short order we got the Department of Homeland Security, the USA Patriot Act and TSA to disrobe us at airports while confiscating lip gloss and toothpaste. Supposedly data would be centralized and the system would prevent recurrence. There was a lot of blame casting and some of it was justified.
Here's what the media in England have found out about our attempted airplane destruction over Detroit on Christmas Eve:
Child Of Privilege Goes Astray
Why didn't I read that in the US newspapers? Apparently the Brits had a better handle on this guy than our Janet Napolitano, who has apparently gone into the Witless Protection Program since this terrorist attempt. The Sec. of Homeland Security has been conspicuously silent. Maybe she's waiting for the Attorney General to buy a prison to keep this boob who set his crotch on fire incarcerated. Let's see where this goes...shoe bomber means take off your shoes before flight, crotch-bomber means wedgies at check-in?
But maybe we've got a trend in terrorism. Or, maybe it is a trend in having info but not using it:
FBI Stings Illegal Into Bomb Plot
Wouldn't it make more sense to take these jihadis out of circulation and out of the country rather than depend that our sting will be the only bomb plot they attempt?
Or maybe you heard about this guy that we had some info on:
Counseling For the Battle Weary and Assassinations a Specialty
How much longer must we subordinate our common sense regarding anti-terrorism activity to the lesser good of political correctness? Seriously, when you see an emerging story about an attempted nut-job action do you expect that when the terrorist name is released that it will be Stanley Kowalski or Harvey Goldstein?
4 comments:
Ed,
I was in Willy 70-08. You kept us in stitches in academics, though we never let you know. We were in awe of you. Silly us. Thirty nine years later, we follow your blog and laugh our ass off at your comments. Though I have to say that we are not laughing at you, just with you. Our life and times are truly FUBAR these days. Sorry you missed your career broadening FAC assignment. We talked about you often and missed your dry sense of humor while trying to survive until the war was over. You probably don't remember the ass chewing you gave me, but I do and it kept me alive throughout my aviation career. Some of us survived, some didn't. Check six, Father Time is trailing us.
http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2009/12/flight_253_passenger_says_at_l.html
I gave someone an ass-chewing? Me? Mild mannered, reclusive, me? My students today wouldn't last the first two weeks of UPT from that generation. It's always nice to hear a success story and that maybe you influenced someone's life.
It wasn't some maudlin "My IP" story, because you were not my mentor or IP for that matter. It was something you said about integrity, limitations vs ability and team building that struck a chord. I didn't care that your "people skills" were not perfect. I was searching for meaningful skills beyond the sterility of ATC. In your inimitable style, you were able to impress me in an unforgetable way.
Laced with a few euphemisms that clearly indicated that I needed more experience in the game of flying. AND, that Fighter World was a far cry from the "Sturon".
The Stag Bar at Willy produced real pilots with real stories of success, failure, comedy and pathos. Just when you least expected it, a "nugget" would cross the table. Laugh as we might, the message was clear and concise and I took it for my own.
Yes, without knowing it, you influenced my 42 year professional aviation career in a way that My IP, Jim Jones, could relate. I brought up the encounter with Jim the next day and Jim's tutoring brought me to a whole new level of performance. I got it. Graduated near the top of my class and never forgot where I came from.
Two, Joker and Bingo...all the rest is Ca Ca.
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