So this article caught my eye because there are so many ridiculous aspects to it. Zacarias Moussaoui is the only convicted terrorist in relation to 9/11. He didn't actually participate in the attacks because he was in prison at the time, according to the article. But it says he was given a life sentence because of his role in the attacks. How does that make sense? I don't know. Either we knew it was gonna happen or it wasn't, and this sure makes it sound like we/the government/the CIA knew about it. That's the first thing.
Okay, now another crazy aspect to this. He paid the $8,300 tuition for the flight class in cash. Hundred dollar bills. Probably non-sequential. Probably out of a black, unmarked briefcase, if you know what I mean. How did this not raise an alarm from the start? And shouldn't all potential
trainees be background checked? Everyone knew that planes could be devastating weapons, even before 9/11. They can crash and blow up. Duh. What's the point of going through security checkpoints at an airport when the pilot is the one with all the control? That's a huge oversight that should not be allowed to happen again. In the article, it said that the bosses didn't care, as long as he paid his money. Even if it was cash. In $100 dollar bills. From that black suitcase. But only probably. Regardless, thanks pilot school bosses! Way to care about the American people! Way to look out for our well-being!
Next, $5 MILLION DOLLARS??? WHAT??? How'd they pick that amount? Pick a number from 1-10? Nice use of tax dollars. What's this gonna do, encourage flight instructors to turn more suspicious people over to the FBI? Sounds great. I have an idea. This guy just did his job, and ended up saving people's lives. Give him a medal, give him a plaque, but don't throw away money like that. Give it to schools. Give it to poor people. Give rich people tax breaks. But don't do this. Because who's to say that this won't become the new kind of lottery? "Find a terrorist, get $5 million dollars! Oh wait, we haven't found one in 3 months! The jackpot is up to $10 million! Turn in your friends, turn in your family, this is your easy way out! You won't have to work ever again!"
I hope this doesn't become a pattern. Hopefully it's a one-off deal, because it had to do with 9/11 and Giuliani or the Bush Administration or whoever needs all the help they can get. Thoughts? Was giving this guy 5mil worth it? Or are you as worried as I am, about "1984" starting foreal in 2008?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I'm pretty surprised they don't do background checks on pilots, I hope the flight classes/airlines have learned their lessons and are doing background checks now. If pilots think it's an 'invasion of privacy' they need to realize its just a small price to pay to secure peoples' safety, besides, they shouldn't have anything to hide...unless there a terrorist...As for the $5 million, I agree with Benji--that's a pretty random amount, and its definitely too high. Yes, it's great that another terrorist was caught but in the first place it should be part of the status quo for flight instructors/bosses to do background checks. I think the $5million is too much, but it probably wont turn into a lottery system.
I'm going to have to agree with Benji. It's ridiculous to give away that much money. I don't know the exact salaries of flight instructors and other airline personnel, but my guess is that $5 million is more than any of them would make in their lifetime. And if there's one thing I'm sure about in the world today, it's that money motivates people to do crazy things. So knowing that the government can just hand out $5 million, flight instructors can now ask themselves: "Hmm should I work for the rest of my life and probably never make $5 million, or should I just report every trainee in hopes of them being a terrorist and hopefully I will collect my $5 million that way?" I think a decision like this could motivate people to report suspicious people in order to gain some money. People could start reporting their neighboors or local clerks, and things could get out of control. Much like the "Red Scare" did during the 50's. And how did that turn out? I agree with Benji that the government should've just given him a medal, and this whole scenario would've been avoided. Do soldiers get $5 million for every terrorist they stop? No, often times they get no recognition, but the most they would get is a medal. That's tough love for someone who makes significantly less money and risks their life doing so. To sum it all up, it was a bad use of money that could potentially ignite something similar to the Red Scare.
Post a Comment