Here's exactly the problem we're facing now, on planes.
The sky marshalls are apparently only allowed to prevent attacks similar to those that were done in the past.
These terrorists now are up to something else, it's likely that they're trying to put together chemical attacks of some sort.
And the hijacking of the plane will not come till most people on the plane are disabled.
A lot of good the sky marshalls are going to do if they're just sitting there, waiting till the old scenario plays out, if the bad guys are working on a new scenario!
"A lot of good the sky marshals are going to do if they're just sitting there, waiting till the old scenario plays out, if the bad guys are working on a new scenario!"
They are probing defenses. Testing alternative strategies for overcoming new measures, the most important being undercover air marshals. The point is not to figure out if you can dismantle a bathroom wall, put together a device in a lavatory in relay-team style, or rehearse coordinated movements designed to catch flight attendants and passengers unaware. All this can be done on the ground with no risk of exposure. Even walking the plane and getting a "lay of the land" does not have to be done so overtly and in groups. The point for them is to ID and take out the air marshals because in sufficient numbers and with a well-crafted plan there is not a good way to defend against a sudden attack.
In any game or war, those who seize the initiative have the initial advantage. This is why preemption is a necessary evil for us as a nation. But "pre-empting" one team on one plane does not solve your problem. As anecdotal reports indicate, the probing is extensive. Unless a hijacking of the plane is underway, you should not show your cards. You can arrest the suspects, but they would probably have kept one or two non-ME types hidden as passenger-observers to report back the results of the probe.
While it is a human reaction for an attendant to seek to calm a passenger as in the Jacobsen story, it is a potentially fatal mistake. You must never *ever* confirm or deny the presence of federal LEOs or their identities. Reassurance is fine.
Compromising the critical defense is not.
It sounds like things have tightened up some the past couple weeks. It is a difficult decision to know when to pull the trigger, but the air marshals did the right thing.
The terrorists are trying to discover what they need to do to force federal LEOs to reveal themselves (how outlandish and threatening must their behavior become to trigger action) so that they can then use this information in a future operation to identify and neutralize them. To give the terrorists this info is to give them the keys to the airplane.
This is not about lavatories, strange bags, signals, rehearsals, or wiring.
It is about how to ID air marshals.
And they have to keep them guessing on multiple levels.
Agreed, our sky marshalls are versed only in what was previously done, not what other options that can occur. Sitting idly waiting for the ME types to make their move, may NOT be visible to them if a chemical attack on the flight. This would render the sky marshalls helpless and once again, they would have outsmarted those whose job it was to protect the passengers.... Cannot fathom these so-called intelligence agencies not playing out optional scenarios and having a plan of action for any such case.
Had the 14 "musicians" incapacitated the crew and passengers, those sky marshalls would have been 100% ineffective. Nothing should be taken into the rest rooms by passengers. Coats, jackets and sport coats should be removed prior to usage, no purses or briefcases should be allowed and other restrictive rules should be imposed on restroom usage besides not forming a line down the isles for restroom usage. I'll bet the flight attendants for the various airlines could set down some information that would enhance passenger safety, given half the chance, because they are ones who see what needs to be done.