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Only two years after this moronic Keystone Kops policy was instituted, it has been dropped. Now I would like to know who instituted it, and for what reasons, and if this was a matter of simple bubbleheaded stupidity, of which of course there is an abundance in Washington, or something worse. Because it is very hard for me to believe that anyone genuinely interested in the safety of air travel could have instituted this policy in the first place.
From the ABC News blog, with thanks to Romy:
Undercover federal air marshals will no longer be held to a strict dress code that many thought compromised their in-flight anonymity.The elimination of the dress code is one of a number of significant operational changes announced in a message to air marshals today by the director of the Federal Air Marshal Service, Dana Brown.
Brown's announcement comes just three months after an ABC News investigation revealed policies which air marshals said compromised their undercover status....
Effective Sept. l, air marshals will be allowed to "dress at your discretion, recognizing that the manner of dress should allow you to blend in and not direction attention to yourself," according to Brown's message.
Brown also said air marshals will be free to select their hotels. Under the previous policy, air marshals were required to stay at the same hotel, where their names were often kept on a roster visible to the public at the front desk.
Brown told the marshals the service is also considering changes in boarding policies, "which unfortunately do not lend themselves to simple solutions or immediate, unilateral decisions."
Air marshals had complained passengers could easily spot them because they were required to show their badges publicly at the airline check-in counters and were forced to board in advance.
Posted by Robert at August 27, 2006 8:09 AM
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maybe the period of PC is over, and reality has sunk in finally. l was one time at Detroit metro, and one of the N.W. employees was pointing the airmarshal about something, and clearly was in the wrong. You see the air marshal was visibly upset, and if he could get away with it, would of shot that stupid cow, as everyone now knew who the air marshall was boarding on our plane. it was incredously that the stupidity shown by the NW empployee, unbelieveable.
Posted by: ZenaWarriorPrincess![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/nav-commenters.gif)
at August 27, 2006 8:36 AM
And a little shout out to the MSM ABC News for highlighting this serious lapse in security and getting this administration to do something about it. Good job, ABC news.
Posted by: ryoga at August 27, 2006 9:07 AM
This should never have been an issue. Common sense would require them to dress to blend with common passengers. At least this is finally getting fixed. I am not worried about flying any longer the olden days are over. Relax and don’t cause any waves ended on 9/11. I doubt anyone could easily hijack a plane these days. Not only do you have air marshalls but regular Joe’s will now help. That was not always a guarantee. We now have hundreds of thousands of combat tested military flying all over the place both in and out of uniform and anyone who remembers 9/11 releases the cost of doing nothing. I think it carries over to most public transportation. Now is not the time to get froggy on a place, bus, ship or large donkey cart.
Posted by: Ronin at August 27, 2006 10:07 AM
Let's give the US Marshalls some more credit where it's due.
Remember last week's flight from Holland to India, which returned to Amsterdam because of the suspicious behavior of a group of "Asian" passengers? That was thanks to US marshalls.
Posted by: Shy Guy at August 27, 2006 10:38 AM
Ronin, I would be more than happy to stick a leg out as a jihadist is running up the aisle. Not good on hand to hand, but the legs still work great!!
Posted by: freewoman at August 27, 2006 10:39 AM
One thing is certain: the people who instituted the policy of overt (as opposed to covert) air marshalls will be PRMOMOTED. Just like the FBI officials who actively blocked the pre-9/11 investigations of some of the 9/11 terrorists were.
As to the reason for these insane policies, it must have been some liability issue or some other lawyer nonsense. Unfortunately, this country is ruled by lawyers on many levels (including national defense), not by common sense or even national self-interest.
What is shocking is that the media is not aggressively investigating these failures of our government.Why isnt this a major story in the national media?!
Posted by: george_rem at August 27, 2006 11:02 AM
This is nothing more than the mindset of hide- bound, unimaginative FBI types. The legacy of Hoover is not yet eradicated - FBI agents were wearing hats long after they were out of fashion. Government is run by rules, procedures, and mind mumbing regulations. There is no room for imaginative, forward thinking people in government.
The military is also a branch of government.
Here's an opinion from the dark recesses of Pelayo's mind. One of the reasons we defeated the Japanese and Germans in WW2 was because their governments were more hide-bound and unimaginative than ours.
Posted by: Pelayo at August 27, 2006 11:18 AM
Just a thought, vaguely connected........
Since The legislative branch isn't interested in passing laws on pressing problems,(like immigration or political finance reform)do you think they could pass a law protecting ANY citizen involved in preventing a airline hijacking???
I don't want Abdul's family dragging my butt into court because I trashed his sorry butt, to prevent him from gaining access to the cockpit.
at August 27, 2006 12:13 PM
If the government is run anything like where I work, the initial policy was the brainchild of some dimwit middle management type who is totally out of touch with the men in the trenches.
The guys who put their lives on the line or do the real work, instead of conducting conference calls, sending memos and "brainstorming" are usually the LAST to be asked for input.
Posted by: amana39
at August 27, 2006 1:38 PM
Good job Brownie !!!
Posted by: Anti-PC at August 27, 2006 2:53 PM
Here's an opinion from the dark recesses of Pelayo's mind. One of the reasons we defeated the Japanese and Germans in WW2 was because their governments were more hide-bound and unimaginative than ours. Posted by: Pelayo
Spot on old chap..
Germany and Japan were top down, just like the Bush administration.
Hitler had to approve everything, every minor detail, and kept changing his mind as to weapons, tactics and interfered in battle field decisions.
The Japanese General Staff and Bureaucracy were modeled on the German and European..
In fact what really won the war was Americans' decentralized, eqalitarian, heretical and individualistic ethos and mentality.. America was the antithesis of the European system and mentality. Alas we are coming to resemble Europe, rather than vice versa.. and all for the worse.
England (the mother of globalization) has extruded it's ideology to our shores, and a country that was once the arsenal of democracy.. can't even produce the component parts of it's own automobiles, airplanes and weapons systems, not to mention auto's cell phones, computers.. etc.
Posted by: Nariz at August 27, 2006 9:54 PM
We deserve to be repeatedly attacked and we'll keep getting sucker punched until we 'get it'.
Improvise, adapt and overcome - some of us say this. Let's really put it into practice at all levels and in many dimensions of the fight.
Posted by: A_Plague_on_Both_Houses at August 28, 2006 9:15 AM
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