Month: November 2001

We reported in an article entitled “Presidential Executive Orders Now Required” on October 10, 2001 that:

“our airlines are at greater risk now than before the September 11th attack and both Congress and the Executive Branch are at fault.”

We further stated:

“Hear us Washington! We are mad and not fooled. We have no choice but to take matters into our own personal hands aboard flights. If someone or group attempts to take over the aircraft and or gain access to the cockpit, we, the individual passengers, must act to save our own lives in self defense and no Federal edict against this can prevent our action. Either you, in Washington act quickly, or anarchy will be the rule of the skies in our flights.”

And finally we stated:

“History has shown that Congress is not normally able to respond to such domestic civil defense measures with sufficient unity to speedily pass effective legislation to provide for this defense of the lives of the American public. Indeed, now for several weeks Congress has not passed effective legislation to provide real security for passengers of the commercial airline industry.” Therefore, the Federation of States and its associated state Southern Independence Party organizations now calls upon President Bush to expeditiously issue the required Executive Orders to insure real airline security.”

It has now been nearly four weeks more since we wrote that article and it is true that now some airlines have beefed up their cockpit doors and there may be an occasional undercover Air Marshall aboard. Yet we continue to hear reports of people getting past the electronic pat down area with pistols and knives while we dutifully stop 75 year old grandmothers from boarding with her knitting needles.

In the movie The Ten Commandments, after his failure to stop Moses Caesar’s wife dug at him and asked bitterly “Do you hear laughter Caesar?” But it was not a laughing matter to Caesar and this deplorable security breech is not a laughing matter to the American passenger public. And if the electronic carry on screening is not bad enough, less than 10% of the checked baggage is being X-rayed or physically examined. Many bombs could be packed in that baggage by terrorists quite willing to die just to bring the aircraft down and create a “big event.”

Meanwhile, our national guard bravely and nearly meaninglessly stands guard at our airports, essentially doing nothing but enhancing the appearance to security. It would not be difficult to train them to examine baggage, vastly increasing the percentage of checked baggage that would be safe, at least until permanent personnel could be hired and trained.

Admirably, President Bush has tried to wait it out until Congress could pass a viable airline safety bill. That, however, has failed and is very unlikely to occur due to partisan political views for and against federalism. (The hiring of 30,000 federal employees to check the baggage). We cannot afford to wait longer. The political downside for President Bush will be enormous if another passenger plane is hijacked and crashed into some target. The President can ill afford to wait longer on Congress, nor does he have a Constitutional requirement to wait for Congress during time of war once Congress has effectively passed a declaration of war.

Still, if President Bush wants to chance waiting it out for Congress to pass a bill he can sign some compromise will be needed apparently. We recognize the political dilemma in Congress and offer a possible solution other than those being offered on Capital Hill. President Bush could maintain his objection to hiring some 30,000 federal employees to do the job of security needed and yet give the option to the various States to either hire private security firms or to provide State employees to perform the necessary security under federal guidelines and direct federal supervision. This might persuade enough Democrats to pass a bill acceptable to the President. Many of the States, for example, have a State Guard in addition to their State National Guard. The State Guard in some States has the mission of military police, thus they could be an immediate resource to the States for airport security.

Even if Congress did not show interest in this idea of using the States for security of airports within their boundaries, this could be incorporated in the needed Executive Order solving our dilemma. In our article on Presidential Executive Orders published October 10, 2001 we outlined a rather complete proposed Executive Order. We will not repeat that here although most of the measures outlined are still applicable. However, by utilizing the State machinery under federal guidelines and supervision, the public would feel secure and the federalists would be partially assuaged since State employees could be used and the decision would be up to the States. That would be a State’s rights thing to do and the football would be effectively passed.

Please, Mr. President, issue an EXECUTIVE ORDER this week for airline security.

Federation of States Staff

The attack on America of September 11, 2001 was followed quickly by a request for War on Terrorism by President Bush and on September 15, 2001, Congress granted full authority to the President to pursue the War and use what ever force was necessary.

Next, the World was given enemy propaganda directly from the enemy (Taliban Afghanistan Embassy in Pakistan) via interviews by CNN and other American news media as well as foreign news media during the period of time that President Bush was giving the Taliban to deliver Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda terrorist leaders and to destroy the terrorist training camps in order to avoid an American attack.

But then, since the Taliban Government refused to meet the terms laid out by President Bush, the American and British attacks upon the Taliban Government of Afghanistan began on October 8, 2001 and the Declared War became a stark reality. And the American news media began clandestine reports from Afghanistan, mainly from reporters in the area controlled by the Northern Alliance which was certainly acceptable.

But, American news media continued interviews with the Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan, thus broadcasting enemy propaganda not only to the American public but to the World as well even though the war was on. In addition, American news media parroted broadcasts made by the Arab news media, Al Jazeera which included the latest letter from Osama bin Laden to the World.

After getting away with this for a few weeks several American media including ABC and CNN along with other media from other countries were invited by the enemy to visit behind enemy lines. Of course, this media expedition was escorted and only allowed to see what the Taliban leaders wished them to see.

Sure enough, the World and the American people were again subjected to a strong dose of enemy propaganda by these reporters who reported what they saw. For those American journalists involved and the executives of their companies, this seems to have amounted to giving aid and comfort to the enemy during time of war which is the Constitutional definition of Treason.

If American news media had been invited by Tokyo Rose and Japanese officials in 1944 to make a news media visit to Japan during our war in the Pacific against Japanese forces and if they had attended on their own and then reported from Japan they would likely have been shot for Treason upon returning to American controlled territory.

The only excuse that would offset the appearance of Treason would be if the American news media involved had explicit permission from the Department of Defense to attend such an event for the intelligence gathering benefits that might be gained on the Taliban.

The media had better quickly learn to understand that freedom of the press does not exist in time of war when it comes to matters of national defense or to parroting enemy propaganda or to hindering the war effort by promoting anti-war or anti-American propaganda and thus giving aid and comfort to our enemy. The rules have changed and will not again revert to the fully open press until the war is over.

Now, because of the gravity of this apparent press damage to our propaganda battle brought about by their visit to the enemy in their homeland, the Commander and Chief, President George W. Bush must issue a clear executive order prohibiting press behavior that infringes upon the Constitutional definition of Treason excepted only by explicit written permission from the Department of Defense. This clearly, during time of war, is not a matter to be legislated by Congress.