...and sound like an ignoramus! NewsBusters.org:
"Katie's guest was former air marshal Tony Kuklinski, who stated that 'by all accounts I've seen, what [the air marshals] did was necessary.'Katie wasn't so sure:
'Do they always shoot to kill, Tony? In other words, I guess the average person hearing this [on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Katie?] might think: isn't there a way where they could have shot this person and not killed him? Wounded him or incapacitated him in some way without killing him?'
As Kuklinksi patiently and professionally explained:
'law enforcement officials aren't trained to shoot to kill; they're trained to shoot to prevent the action from taking place. We're not trained to precision-shoot in the knee or in the arm or in the finger to prevent something from taking place. Your accuracy goes down, the potential for a stray bullet or a missed shot hitting a bystander goes up tremendously.'
That wasn't enough to satisfy Katie:
'I know that last July, London police shot and killed a Brazilian electrician because they'd mistaken him for a terror suspect. It raises the question: should there be further training? Do you think that air marshals should be taught to shoot at a specific location on a body?'"
I saw this this morning and hoped someplace like NewsBusters would pick it up. It was one of those moments that you could sense bloggers all around the country writing their post at the same time about the same thing.
Ms. Couric, with all respect, we here at OC Chronicle suspect that the "Average Person" [condescending on the face of it] would have the intelligence to think this situation through rather than immediately second-guess trained law enforcement officials whose sole purpose is to protect innocent passengers on an aircraft.
We here at OC Chronicle are the epitomy of average (except for our fabulous ability to sing any Broadway Showtune at the drop of a hat, yet still remain a bonified heterosexual) and here's what we thought:
1. A clearly deranged man exhibiting odd behavior [wearing a backpack across his chest as suicide bombers do] is screaming that they have a bomb.
2. Said deranged man does not respond to two, clear commands to desist and get on the floor
3. Federal Air Marshals are trained to know that suicide bombers are by definition... SUICIDAL, therefore, if they are truly nbent on blowing themselves and others up, they will not follow commands.
4. Federal Air Marshals are on a crowded, small aircraft filled with innocent civilians.
5. The only USRE way to stop a suicide bomber is TO KILL THEM.
Katie asks if the Air Marshals should be "taught to shoot at a specific location on a body?"... THEY ARE!!! The head, and the torso, to kill them.
Why would any average or exceptional person want it any other way?
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