U.S. Works Up Plan for Using Nuclear Arms

[Bradford DeLong]

>>>>  Nader says that if he were President 911 would never have 
>>>>happened because he's been calling for stronger airline cockpit 
>>>>doors for decades...
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Brad DeLong
>>>
>>>
>>>And who was responsible for not taking this obvious step?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>Shane Mage
>>
>>Ummm...
>>
>>The reason that the terrorists were able to commandeer the 
>>jetliners on 911 has nothing to do with inadequate airline cockpit 
>>doors.
>>
>>The reason is that--before 912--the standard procedures for dealing 
>>with hijackers was to cooperate with them, do what they asked...
>>Needless to say, this is no longer standard procedure. But Nader's 
>>claim is a strong sign that, to put it politely, he is vastly 
>>underbriefed on airline security issues.
>>
>>
>>Brad DeLong
>
>
>So, despite the obvious fact that airliners are
>easily used as weapons of mass destruction,
>"standard procedure" was to turn the controls
>over to any hijacker who "asked" for them?
>And you think *Nader* was  "vastly underbriefed on airline security issues?"
>
>
>  Shane Mage

Well, it depends on the balance of background probabilities, doesn't 
it? If only one in a million hijackers intends to use an airliner as 
a guided cruise missile, it makes no sense to attempt to use deadly 
force against hijackers, or to keep the cockpit door locked in 
response to a credible threat to start killing flight attendants 
until it opens.

If one in a hundred hijackers wants to follow the Al-Qaeda model, 
then the calculus is somewhat different.

This shouldn't be a very hard point to understand.

Brad DeLong