bart said:
Since when is "unilateral" such a bad word? Seems to me this country was built on unilateral action. I would not hesitate to always act in my best interests without consulting my neighbors.
That's interesting. To some, and that includes me, it seems this very attitude is the underlying cause of many of the problems that we as a nation now face.
I find it humorous that you find it OK to act in our own best interest without consulting our negighbors, yet if one of our neighbors decides to act in its best interests without consulting us, we find that highly objectionable and respond by acting like spoiled children and selling "Freedom Fries" in the nation's capital.
If British pilots find armed individuals (whether theirs or ours) objectionable in the cabins of their aircraft it is fully reasonable for them to decline to operate those aircraft, regardless of whatever cowboy attitudes may prevail in the United States, and whether or not this results in cancellation of the flight.
As professionals we may differ as to the safety implications of discharging weapons in the cabins of pressurized airliners. Many of "us" (Americans) also think that way. We just don't happen to have as strong opinions re the gun-toting advocates (given our relatively short history of attempting to dictate through the muzzle of a six-shooter or the mouth of a cannon). The very least we could do is acknowledge that the British are every bit as competent and professional as we are and have a right to disagree and make their own determination ..... without the benefit of all the negative rhetoric.
Our "my way or the highway" attitudes have already cost us far more than most of you seem to realize or ever wanted to pay, and will undoubtedly cost even more in the future.
As for those who advocate we adopt the Israeli model, let us not forget that their policy is to destroy the airliner (using their marshalls) rather than allow it to be highjacked. The only real difference in our method is that we are prepared to shoot down the airliner with a missle fired from outside by an American pilot, so we're already there (just a different method). The British seem to have a better idea ... don't fly the trip.
The Israeli effort to prevent terrorism by becoming even more deadly terrorists themselves has
failed to prevent terrorist attacks for more than 50 years. Perhaps we might do better to emulate a different "teacher".
The use of miltary power, or six shooters, or any other type of weapon, whether by "super powers" or no-count powerless, has never accomplished anything other than destruction and mass killing since the advent of mankind. It has never prevented or solved any of man's problems, real or imagined yet we continue to repeat it, time and again. Even the scriptures tell us that the Old Testament protocol of "an eye for an eye" is not the way. Will we ever learn?
