As soon as I heard about this I knew some people would doubt the Air Marshals. Sure enough, a moonbat makes his doubts public. The Skipper over at Barking Moonbat asks a few questions that I can answer, or pretty much anyone else could answer if they weren’t dedicated to undermining national security.
“If this man was bipolar, why wasn’t he on his medicine?”
That’s a good question. He can’t answer that, but his wife who was on the flight sure can. It is wise to not take your medication for a mental illness if you’re traveling, especially by air?
“Did the air marshals act properly?”
Yes, it only takes a moment to activate a bomb trigger.
“Was deadly force really necessary?”
A man that claims to have a bomb is acting erratically and when asked to get on the ground he attempts to reach into his backpack. Should the Air Marshals be required to wait until after the man has a chance to active the bomb trigger?
“I do not like the idea of making the rest of the passengers sit with their hands on their heads while dogs sniff the luggage. Why does one man’s irrational act automatically place suspicion on the other passengers?”
The Air Marshals to not have the luxury of hindsight. We know the man was not a terrorist because his background has been checked now. But in the moments after the incident, it must be treated as a terrorist act and terrorists often work in teams. Could he have been a decoy for the real attack? Were his co-conspirators still on the plane with a bomb? I think The Skipper lacks a basic understanding of tactics. A diversion is a common ploy in many attacks. The plane and passengers must be checked for the safety of everyone involved. So yes, the irrational act of one person on a flight places all the other passengers under suspicion.
“People, we’re not being smart about this. When the authorities start to panic there is little hope for the rest of us …”
I think this is cause for hope. They didn’t panic. The Air Marshals acted immediately and when it looked like the situation was about to escalate, the man reaching for his backpack, the Air Marshals acted quickly to protect the passengers. This sends a message to potential terrorists. We have Air Marshals on flights and they will not hesitate to take proper protective measures.
Now don’t get confused thinking The Skipper has a military background because of the name he chooses to use online and would therefore know a thing or two about security or handling terrorism. He’s a Oracle database administrator and a computer science professor. The Skipper claims to be a Reagan Republican, but he forgets Reagan was not shy about taking action to protect Americans.