Be careful when flying...

I say this because of an article I read today from the DenverChannel. Supposedly, there is a quota that federal air marshals must reach on a monthly basis and if they don't meet this quota, they will not receive any bonuses, raises, awards, or special assignments. Why should this concern people like you and me? Well, they fall short of this quota some months and guess who they have to turn to in order to match it? Innocent passengers. Still not concerned? What's this quota even dealing with? Well, I'll let the air marshals speak for themselves on that question.

As one federal air marshal said, "Innocent passengers are being entered into an international intelligence database as suspicious persons acting in a suspicious manner on an aircraft ... and they did nothing wrong."

Yeah, that's right and what then happens? These names are entered into a government database called a Surveillance Detection Report (SDR).

When an air marshal in Las Vegas was asked the question, "When you see a decision like this, for these reports, who loses here?", he responded with, "The people we're supposed to protect -- the American public."

Doug Strange, a former agent in charge of air marshals in Atlanta, was asked about the kind of impact the reports could hold on a flyer. He responded with, "That could have serious impact ... They could be placed on a watch list. They could wind up on databases that identify them as potential terrorists or a threat to an aircraft. It could be very serious.

On a July 2004 memo concerning the quota, it stated, "There may come an occasion when you just don't see anything out of the ordinary for a month at a time, but I'm sure that if you are looking for it, you'll see something."

An air marshal in Las Vegas reported as their SDR of the month a tourist taking a picture of the Las Vegas skyline.

While the agency denies any quota system (go figure), the Las Vegas air marshals have produced documented evidence to indicate otherwise. As one Las Vegas air marshal stated, "I would like to see an investigation -- a real investigation conducted into the ways things are done here." I think I'll take the air marshals word, especially if they're wanting an investigation, over the agency who just denies everything. I'll believe those who have evidence to support what they're stating and who are wanting an investigation to take place over another who has no evidence to back up their side of the argument and fear an investigation.

Link:

http://www.infowars.com/articles/ps/marshals_innocent_people_on_watch_list.htm