WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- In one of those unusual turns of events for which Washington is so well-known, the congressionally mandated, presidentially signed directive to arm airline pilots in order to protect the American public is being undermined not by terrorists or their sympathizers, but by the very federal bureaucrats who are supposed to follow the law and implement the program. Either a directive to cease and desist their obstructionist tactics, or a good housecleaning of the Transportation Safety Administration and Department of Homeland Security, is clearly in order.
Washington being Washington, it's more likely we'd sooner witness Yasser Arafat and Saddam Hussein join hands with Ariel Sharon in a chorus of Kumbaya.
The fits and starts that continue to plague this program also reflect the schizophrenia with which our society still views firearms. The unfortunate upshot of all this is that a program intended to provide a way for the "last, best" defense against a terrorist taking over a commercial aircraft and using it as a weapon of mass destruction is being squandered. This not only endangers potentially thousands of lives, but also the billions of dollars in losses that would quickly befall our economy, if we were to suffer another terrorist incident involving an airliner.
And still, TSA fiddles.
Why? Part of the reason lies in the mentality reflected by the very first head of TSA, John McGaw, a Clinton holdover from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, who reflected the typical Clinton view of guns - oooh, nasty, don't touch, must control.
This anti-firearms view permeated also the top leadership of the Department of Transportation, under Norm Mineta. While the views of the leadership of the Department of Homeland Security are not yet clear on firearms issues generally, the lethargy with which that Department -- the parent to TSA -- is moving on arming airline pilots is disappointing at best.
Another reason for this sad situation is the resentment these agencies - TSA, ATF, and DHS - harbor against Congress for having the audacity to "order" them to do something that wasn't their idea in the first place.
Bureaucrats, whether at TSA, FBI, DHS or anywhere else, don't like to have individuals not on their payroll, such as an airline pilots, have an independent ability to accomplish a goal, even if that goal is as laudable and critical as stopping a terrorist takeover of an airline.
The attitude of TSA seems to be, "So, the Congress wants us to arm airline pilots, huh? Well, we'll show them. We'll be just as slow, deliberate and obstinate as possible, in complying with the letter of the law."
Two years after the 9/11 attacks using passenger planes as guided missiles, and knowing of the obvious vulnerability of commercial planes to being so used, less than four dozen pilots have been "certified" to have a firearm in the cockpit of a passenger plan they are piloting. Less than four dozen.
The tortoise-like speed with which TSA is certifying pilots does not give any appearance of moving into even second gear. The initial pilot training took place at the well-established and convenient Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, located just south of Savannah, Ga., and a short air hop from the world's busiest airport in Atlanta. The head of the program was the well-qualified and well-liked Willie Ellison.
Despite these and other reasons to stay with the initial program, the bureaucrats at TSA recently decided to remove Ellison and change the venue for the training to a location as distant from the center of the airline industry as FLETC was near to it - Artesia, N.M.
Further delays and increased costs, associated with training new personnel and relocating equipment two-thirds of the way across the country, are inevitable. TSA sheds few tears, however.
The country's civilian airline pilots are growing increasingly frustrated with what they see as deliberate roadblocks being repeatedly placed in the path of implementing the pilot-arming program. Many pilots have questioned Ellison's removal, as has Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., the powerful chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee.
They have also questioned the slow pace of decisions being made by TSA - decisions ranging from which handguns are allowed to be used, to storage conditions for the firearms, to unnecessary and duplicative psychological testing and screening of the pilots (all of whom must already meet strict psychological standards for being a licensed airline pilot in the first place).
TSA also whines that it has insufficient funds with which to train pilots under the "Federal Flight Deck Officers" program (note the political correctness of the official title - no reference to "firearms" or "arming" here, than goodness). Not surprising, the cost of the current program is astronomical.
The TSA's cost for each pilot, excuse me, Federal Flight Deck Officer, to become qualified to have a firearm in the cockpit, is $12,000. Estimates by private companies that handle firearms training have indicated they could adequately train and qualify a pilot in the use of a firearm for less than 10 percent of that figure.
Is TSA interested? Of course not. To show any interest in a streamlined, efficient, economical program would be anathema to the petty, self-centered bureaucrats who unfortunately still appear to be running our federal government -- even those offices charged with protecting us against acts of terrorism
-- -- Bob Barr served in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to January 2003, and prior to that as a United States Attorney and an official with the CIA. He currently practices law in Georgia and works with a number of organizations in the Washington area on privacy and civil liberties matters.
-- "Outside View" commentaries are written for UPI by outside writers who specialize in a variety of important global issues.
