Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Marine Returning From Combat Runs Afoul of The No-Fly List
I link to www.horsesasses.com, which is one of the most descriptive titles I know of, for a blog about politics. The whole show seems to be run by a group of horses who are lacking their fore-quarters.
We already know about the problems at Homeland Security, whether totally incompetent political hacks or pedophiles. The Transportation Safety outfit seems to have an equal proportion of idiots. Anyone who has flown recently knows the stupidity-drill. I happen to know about it through reports—I was on an airplane last summer, a little float-plane out of Ketchikan AK, but all we did was fly into a lake back in the Misty Fjords where I deposited some of my son’s ashes. TSA wasn’t involved in clearing me, apparently. That was the only airplane I’ve been on in probably thirty-five years. I was let on the Alaska State Ferry, three times, so maybe I’m not on the no-sail list. Rode the train, too, so I must not be on the no-train-travel list...been on the bus over to Portland and back a few times, too, so I guess I’m considered safe enough for bus travel. If I keep making fun of, and pointing out the stupidities of, various governmental security groups, I’ll get banned sooner or later.
However, here’s a story about a Marine who ran afoul of the no-fly list. It's a good thing he wasn't wounded over there!
MSNBC.com
‘No-fly’ list delays Marine's Iraq homecoming
Minnesota reservist detained after being identified as possible terrorist
The Associated Press
Updated: 11:06 a.m. ET April 12, 2006
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12284855/
MINNEAPOLIS - A Minnesota reservist who spent the past eight months in Iraq was told he couldn't board a plane to Minneapolis because his name appeared on a "no-fly" list as a possible terrorist.
Marine Staff Sgt. Daniel Brown, who was in uniform and returning from the war with 26 other Marine military police reservists, was delayed briefly in Los Angeles until the issue was cleared up.
The other reservists arrived at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport as scheduled, but instead of immediately meeting their families, they waited on a bus for Brown.
"We don't leave anybody behind," said Marine 1st Sgt. Drew Benson. "We start together, and we finish together."
Brown arrived more than an hour later.
"A guy goes over and serves his country fighting for eight or nine months, and then we come home and put up with this crap?" Brown told the St. Paul Pioneer Press upon arrival.
Problems at LA airport
Brown, 32, of Coon Rapids, was returning from service in the Al-Anbar province of Iraq, known as the dangerous Sunni Triangle. He ran into problems at the Los Angeles airport on Tuesday morning.
"I was told it was going to take some time because they informed me I was on a government watch list," Brown said. "People at the Northwest counter said they had to call somebody to get me cleared."
The presence of Brown's name on the watch list apparently resulted from an airport incident when he was on his way to Iraq.
He was trying to board a plane last June for training in California before heading to Iraq in September. But Transportation Security Administration screeners found gunpowder residue on his boots — likely left over from a previous two-month tour in Iraq.
"I tried to explain what was going on, that I'd just got home and was going back again," Brown said. "They made a big stink about it, and I ended up missing my flight to California."
A spokeswoman with the TSA told the Pioneer Press on Tuesday she was unfamiliar with Brown's case and not comment on it. A TSA spokeswoman did not immediately return a message from the Associated Press on Wednesday.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
© 2006 MSNBC.com
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12284855/
We already know about the problems at Homeland Security, whether totally incompetent political hacks or pedophiles. The Transportation Safety outfit seems to have an equal proportion of idiots. Anyone who has flown recently knows the stupidity-drill. I happen to know about it through reports—I was on an airplane last summer, a little float-plane out of Ketchikan AK, but all we did was fly into a lake back in the Misty Fjords where I deposited some of my son’s ashes. TSA wasn’t involved in clearing me, apparently. That was the only airplane I’ve been on in probably thirty-five years. I was let on the Alaska State Ferry, three times, so maybe I’m not on the no-sail list. Rode the train, too, so I must not be on the no-train-travel list...been on the bus over to Portland and back a few times, too, so I guess I’m considered safe enough for bus travel. If I keep making fun of, and pointing out the stupidities of, various governmental security groups, I’ll get banned sooner or later.
However, here’s a story about a Marine who ran afoul of the no-fly list. It's a good thing he wasn't wounded over there!
MSNBC.com
‘No-fly’ list delays Marine's Iraq homecoming
Minnesota reservist detained after being identified as possible terrorist
The Associated Press
Updated: 11:06 a.m. ET April 12, 2006
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12284855/
MINNEAPOLIS - A Minnesota reservist who spent the past eight months in Iraq was told he couldn't board a plane to Minneapolis because his name appeared on a "no-fly" list as a possible terrorist.
Marine Staff Sgt. Daniel Brown, who was in uniform and returning from the war with 26 other Marine military police reservists, was delayed briefly in Los Angeles until the issue was cleared up.
The other reservists arrived at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport as scheduled, but instead of immediately meeting their families, they waited on a bus for Brown.
"We don't leave anybody behind," said Marine 1st Sgt. Drew Benson. "We start together, and we finish together."
Brown arrived more than an hour later.
"A guy goes over and serves his country fighting for eight or nine months, and then we come home and put up with this crap?" Brown told the St. Paul Pioneer Press upon arrival.
Problems at LA airport
Brown, 32, of Coon Rapids, was returning from service in the Al-Anbar province of Iraq, known as the dangerous Sunni Triangle. He ran into problems at the Los Angeles airport on Tuesday morning.
"I was told it was going to take some time because they informed me I was on a government watch list," Brown said. "People at the Northwest counter said they had to call somebody to get me cleared."
The presence of Brown's name on the watch list apparently resulted from an airport incident when he was on his way to Iraq.
He was trying to board a plane last June for training in California before heading to Iraq in September. But Transportation Security Administration screeners found gunpowder residue on his boots — likely left over from a previous two-month tour in Iraq.
"I tried to explain what was going on, that I'd just got home and was going back again," Brown said. "They made a big stink about it, and I ended up missing my flight to California."
A spokeswoman with the TSA told the Pioneer Press on Tuesday she was unfamiliar with Brown's case and not comment on it. A TSA spokeswoman did not immediately return a message from the Associated Press on Wednesday.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
© 2006 MSNBC.com
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12284855/
