Originally Posted by ender83
The embarassment here is the media and their "reporting" of the story, not the response of the USSS (Secret Service). USSS has a job to do, and they do it very, very well. Appropriate protocols were enacted and the principals were all protected. As an unusally insightful talking head commented, this could have easily beee a distraction to a ground assault. I feel the response was appropriate, especially in light of the foiled mid-nineties plot to fly a general aviation craft (packed with explosives) into CIA HQ. In today's incident, I doubt very much anyone had time to analyze the size/cargo capacity of the aircraft. Armchair quarterbacking is easy - and fine - just try to remember what is at stake and that these people have to act in the moment.
Secondly, and I cannot emphasize this enough, any idiot flying into that airspace is so goddamn stupid that shooting him or her down would surely improve the gene pool.
Gee, you guys are strict! Granted, the pilot may not have the navigating skills of Charles Lindbergh or one of the Navy's Blue Angels, but shooting him out of the sky, and killing him for being lost, or for being careless, sounds a bit extreme to me! Do any of you remember what happened in D.C. last June, a day or two before President Reagan's funeral? A plane carrying the Governor of Kentucky, his family, and others was flying into Reagan/National Airport and came close to the Capitol building. The plane's transponder was malfunctioning, and the order came to evacuate the Capitol building. If I remember correctly, people were told to remove their shoes so they could run faster! Panic and pandemonium ensued for awhile. Would you all have wanted the plane shot down in this case, resulting in the death of Kentucky's first family? Paranoia and fear can destroy you if you let it.
I understand the pilot in today's incident was enroute to North Carolina.
Supposedly, he was lost and yes, pilots should be aware of the many
restrictions in and around Washington, but there should be a better way
to handle situations like this without resorting to shooting down planes
or needlessly panicking the populace. What about planes that fly near
nuclear power plants, military bases, sporting events, etc.....should they
be blasted from the sky? Lovely country we're evolving into, isn't it?
Perhaps a couple of fighters should fly Combat Air Patrols over Washington
like they did after September 11th.....at least they could VISUALLY identify a Cessna 150.
Interesting that you mentioned CIA headquarters....didn't some
Islamic terrorists jump out of a car and blast away at a row
of CIA employees lined up in their cars back in the 1990's? Greg