Feeling Safer

Today's shooting by U.S. Air Marshals of an airplane passenger who made a bomb threat sends a powerful message to would-be terrorists.

Some stories indicate the passenger may have been mentally ill, and if so, it is very sad he was in a situation where he could make such a threat and put the marshals in a situation where they were forced to act. It would be hard to imagine the marshals being able to judge instantaneously whether the threat was serious or not. I seem to recall that Richard Reid, the would-be "shoe bomber," looked unkempt and possibly mentally ill, but he was nonetheless a very dangerous person who came far too close to blowing up an airplane.

Regardless of how the details unfold, I'm glad to know that there are marshals out there who are doing their utmost to protect our airplanes.