Since 9/11 there have been a number of policies put in place under the umbrella of "Homeland Security". This is a phrase that I find particularly offensive. The connotations to me are similar to" Der Homeland" in a very nazi-esque way. And considering the "Homeland Security Act" I don't believe I'm that far from wrong. One of the National Security policies that goes along with this, is the overflights by fighter aircraft. These of course are armed jet fighters. They must be armed and loaded. This was a lesson that we learned in Beirut in 1983. Fighters can't fight without ammunition. Thank You, President Reagan.

So now we have airforce fighter jets patrolling the air over select target cities; Al-Queda targets, US cities. The implication is that if terrorists hijack a passenger jet and it appears that it is to be flown (crashed) into a target then these fighters would shoot it down.

I am curious to know if I am the only one who comprehends what that really means? The passenger jet itself would be full of passengers, not all hijackers.

The real question is: who is going to give the order to shoot our hijacked airliner out of the sky? I have no doubt that the pilots would follow orders and pull the trigger. But who gives the order? President Bush? I'm pretty sure Secretary of War (ooops I mean Defense) Rumsfield would. But as a non-elected official should he have the right and power to give that order? This order would specifically be a death warrant for all of those on the hijacked plane.

Poof! All gone! Now, there are those whose rationale is that they (the airline passengers) are dead no matter what. But, do we have the resolve as a nation to kill our own?

I was just curious.