Bump.

The Truth.

Clancy is right, as usual. Too bad some of the lefties (particularly in the media) can't undergo their own "growth" at a time like this and realize how their views and governance has gotten us to where we are today.

Big Tom Clancy Bump.

I've been wait for Tom to chime in on this. As usual, he is right on.

I am ashamed to say that frank church was from Idaho (where I was born and raised). There is even a wilderness area in central Idaho named after him.

I really wish Clancy, Rush and maybe Spanos would buy NBC. My husband is re-reading all the Clancy novels - really creepy how reality and entertainment have merged into history.

Wow, the title said it all but what a good read.

While I agree with you about arming the pilots, in this situation, we know of at least one plane where the terroists claimed they had a bomb strapped to themselves. It doesn't seem to me that a gun would help in that matter.

However, aside from arming the pilots, I would ban all carry-on luggage (with the exception of diaper bags for infants), and search all other items brought aboard - books, laptops, etc. I would also, yes, mandate that people be frisked as well as walked through a metal detector.

Radical? Maybe (and maybe the fact that it's past midnight). But I don't think that getting to the airport 2 - 3 hours prior to departure is a bad thing, either.

The average/typical liberal" needs to look deep down within hisself, find his asshole and remove his head from it.

Is he still alive to see the fruits of his efforts?

well, i would like to put forth again,

Those that give up a little freedom for a little security deserve neither

the pertinence of this quote for this article is that, yes the american people distrust the CIA, and with good reason. because, like clancy said the government agencies are subject the the whims of whoever is in charge.. the problem comes when the people in charge of the government decide they dont have enough power, and pervert the system to get more, and to secure what they have. these spook agencies have NO ACCOUNTABILITY to the public.
'Commie Tommy' Dashle for president! NOT!
but do you get my drift yet???

Nonsense! The CIA is corrupt and incompetent and always HAS been corrupt and incompetent, although it probably thinks differently.

The CIA never did the job it was supposed to do; all it did was jobs it shouldn't have been doing, which almost always left us paying a high price later on. The CIA can smuggle drugs, but it can't catch terrorists; it can help slaughter 50,000 Salvadorans, but it can't predict the fall of Communism a half-day in advance.

The CIA doesn't need to have its budget increased. It needs to have its budget eliminated. It never HAS justified the money that has been spent on it. And judging by its record, it never will. I'm not even sure the CIA is really ON our side.

What's this 'we' crap? SinkEmperor willy emasculated the intel community and now 'we' are paying for it ... but the vile media asswipes continue to worship his every move following the tragedy! What a load!

Not to sound too critical, but what type of foreign intelligence agency do you envision? I do agree that there has been corruption (obviously). But is the corruption endemic to the agency, or aren't there reforms which could be implemented. Granted, most of these things would only be through oversight by Congress (and we know what type of job they do), but I, myself, can't see some corruption being there, particularly based upon the job they have to do.

He's right, and I watched Bill O'Reilly sparring with the perpetrator of the notion that the CIA should only do business with people with "sqeaky clean" backgrounds. This was the notorious Senator Toricelli (D-NJ), semi-successfully parrying Bill's thrusts and not allowing him to make his point. What a dodgeball weasel.

Thank you. I love my country, and I admire those who take up the cause of defending it as a profession, but the CIA has gone unchecked for too long, and has been providing shoddy intelligence to our government since the days of Reagan, and maybe before.

The agency may simply be beyond so-called "reform." It may be time to start over.

I don't believe so but am uncertain.

I was just watching the tape of the interview after posting this. It was amazing at how he started out saying he didn't restrict the C.I.A. ("all they need to do is just ask), to confirming that he was behind the prohibition about the type of people who could be recruited.

I remember how hard I was rooting for Zimmer to win that Senate race, and thought at the time how important it was for him to defeat Torricelli. Same thing with Schumer defeating D'Amato (re: Judiciary Committee).

It's amazing at how these people "think" - we couldn't get Gotti without dealing with Gravanno. How does he propose the C.I.A. obtain information about them? Read a freaking newspaper?

By making searches mandatory for any carry-on junk like laptops, etc, the flying public will stop carrying these items if it means they will have to wait to board. No luggage ought be allowed on board. Period. The cockpit should be armed, but the bulkhead between pilots and passengers should be sealed off for flight.

True. On another note, I hope the military and the political correctness Nazis took note of how the terrorists got into the cockpits - killing the female stewardesses. Same thing would happen on the front lines.

I also am not certain that we are getting our moneys worth. I heard the other day on the radio that taxpayers spent 31 billion dollars last year on intelligence.

My question is whos intelligence? Why didn't it stop what happened last tuesday?

If the mechanic doesn't fix my truck, I'm going to have a hard time when he hands me the bill. Shouldn't we expect the same accountability from our government?

Good Tom Clancy article.

I was just thinking today about that Clancy novel where the airplane is crashed into the Capitol. I wonder if Clancy fears that's where they got the idea?

Is your husband re-reading The Bear and the Dragon? I could barely get through it the first time. How did the same man that wrote the Hunt for Red October write that mess?

With the Bear and the Dragon, Clancy wrote the worst novel in the jenre that he himself created.

"On that basis, and in compliance with God's order, we issue the following fatwa to all Muslims:

The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies -- civilians and military -- is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it" http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/docs/980223-fatwa.htm

Agreed, "wet" operations should be in order when a statement like the above is made. Reply in kind, in spades.

HERE IS HOW TO STOP TERRORISTS!!

FIVE THOUSAND LOST THEIR LIVES FOR THE WANT OF TWO THOUSAND ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY DOLLARS.

Israel Airlines bolts the Cockpit door and all Pilots and copilots carry Firearms.

New Release

Ponder for a moment.

We trust a pilot with a 30 million-dollar plane knowledgeable of complex airplane functions, but government policy will not allow them to operate a simple firearm.

I’LL FLY AGAIN WHEN PILOTS ARE ARMED.

Israel Airlines bolts the Cockpit door and all Pilots and copilots carry Firearms.

Scanning the websites this week the following thread from Pilots, Law Enforcement, and American Citizens discuss ways to take positive action against air terrorism.

We trust a fancy security question (Thanks to Jim Kallstom, former FBI, did you pack your bags?) but not millions of active and retired law enforcement officers to Citizen Carry on an airplane.

May I rant for a second! Get these liberal, antigun activists out of our government decision making process. Consider, Israel Airlines policy is to bolt the door, arms it pilots, and has armed travelers in the cabin.

We allow lowly-paid gate-guards to gate dis-arm us, creating a "killing zone of disarmed citizens", as passingers "do battle" in the sky with terrorists, using passion for weapons because misguided government policy has left us defenseless.

The government can not protect you when the terrorist is eyeball to eyeball with you. Now they have ban my pocketknife used to clean my nails. What next, bottles, because they can be smashed for a weapon??

Most all of the former military pilots strapped firearms to their legs when on active duty. Today they are considered not capable, wear the wrong uniform, or untrust worthy.

This BS about putting a 9mm hole in the skin of an airplane will bring it down is more rhetoric and fiction than fact. Just ask the thousand of airmen who returned from flights over Germany in WWII. How about the 747 over Hawaii with a 20-foot hole in the side. Still got a problem with possible decompression? Consider the alternative!

I’ll trust anyday my life to any active or retired law enforcement officer to CITIZEN CARRY on any airline.

I’ll trust anyday my life to any pilot or copilot active or retired to carry on any airline.

I’ll trust any American citizen willing to CITIZEN CARRY after extensive training to carry on any airline. It is a huge responsibility, however, the current "Killing Zones" set up by faulty thinking is killing our husbands, wives, children, and our nation.

I am sure thousands perhaps millions of American’s would trust their life to armed pilots, copilots, air crew members, retired, policemen, FBI, CIA, ATF, or American Citizens willing to train, quality, and stay current with cabin safety issues keeping America airlines safe.

I personally trust all of the above personnel, rather than phony security questions, low-pay air guards, unlocked backdoor food and cleaning functions or gates at airports, or government officials with big titles.

WHO DO YOU TRUST THE GOVERNMENT? OR DO YOU TRUST HONEST AMERICAN CITIZENS WHO LIVE AND BREATH FAMILY SAFETY WHEN TRAVELING?

What do you want in your cockpit, a pilot and copilot with a firearm, or a terrorist? 2,180 dollars (four colt pistols)would have prevented all four terrorist acts and saved five thousand lives.

Government will spend billions of dollars with highly visible, and breach-able security that irritates American citizens during check-in when other more effective obvious solutions exist. Just ask Israel.

Thousands of American veterans, retired LEO's and American Citzens want to sign up today to fight terrorism. Don't tell them they are unqualified. If you do tell them they are unqualifed, they may have a word or two for you.

Visit keepandbeararms.com to carry the fight.

Paul Williams

KEEPANDBEARARMS

WWW.KEEPANDBEARARMS.COM

Advising Director

end Five thousand American Citizens lost their life for the want of two thousand one hundred eight dollars.

(TELL THE AIRLINE PRESIDENTS AND CEO'S)

http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3ba6a57233e2.htm

end ------ Let us hear from the active and retired Law enforcement, pilots, and concerned American citizens.

My, my. Asking the militia to help defend us. Not very Polliticaly Correct of you. :)

sorry! not to you specifically.. this was to most of the people on this thread who seem to lean towards clancy on this one.. thats why clancy is a novelist and not a politician..

blueberry syrup?

nice, but so what?

among his list of things up top is the claim that terrorism is conducted for political reasons. not so in this case. these guys want us to cease to exist. i agree that from frank church on, the cia was subject to the whims of the tree huggers, and whiskey deltas such as gerald ford made a bad situation worse. but in the instant case, this is kind of a sideshow. what we get in intelligence now will come from friendly foreign sources.

dep

Off-topic-yet-too-reasonable-to-ever-be-implemented BUMP.

31 billion dollars last year on intelligence

not exactly

it's the amount of the defense budget that is classified

it includes cia, nsa, and "black" programs (stealth technology, for instance) at the skunkworks and elsewhere

the exact fraction that can be said to be for "intelligence" is classified

in fact, this reply is now classified :)

Damn straight. Quadruple the budget of the C.I.A. now and stop making them the butt of petty political melodrama.

Well, (long pause)....Israel has the will to fight, and knows the terrorists are coming. They certainly has given intelligence full funding, and they are also mid-eastern so their agents look the part. They can't be closer geographically

Yet, the PLO sits and thinks undetected, and comes up with a way of bombing a restaurant, or car-bombing a crowd.

We have none of Israel's advantages.

Just another oddity of the liberal mindset? Of course. But also more evidence that campaign people must somehow get more conservatives off their duffs and out to vote.

Bleat, bleat. Wrong way, Feldman.

Have the airlines ISSUE box-cutters to every male 21 or older; and any female 21 or older who requests one. We have a moral OBLIGATION to prevent the 'next' Kamikaze.

You liberals make me retch.

What I'd have written, were I eloquent and lucid.

Bump

• Terrorism is a political act, performed for political objectives.

Wrong, Tom. This was a religious act.