[jrhepfer]

Good points. But on thing that sticks in my craw is the fact that the Pentagon has authorized the use of several, published and unpublished, surveilance aircraft. I used to work for a company that outfitted these aircraft and know that video surveilance is only half of their game. They have significant CommInt/ElInt capabilities as well.

It just gives me the heebie-geebies a little. I can't imagine that the Pentagon would throw that kind of hardware into the fray if we were talking about a nutball with a pea shooter. Bet your bottom dollar that it is costing millions to have these eagle-eye's looking about for one man.

It just doesn't jive with me.

[The Red Zone]

The ElInt makes sense; they would want to catch any communication he might try to make by cell phone.

The Feebs can't let this go unanswered. Even if this is a domestic nut case, there is too much of a potential that it will embolden "real" terrorists (al Qaeda variety).

[stlnative]

Yes... but one man is causing TERROR that is hurting the local economy badly and it will only get worse if it continues. Also the longer it goes on the worse it looks like we cannot solve the problem on our own turf, thus giving our imported in sleeper cells ideas. So bringing in expensive planes now to try to solve the problem that is getting quickly out of hand is a price the goverment is willing to pay even if it is just for one nut job. Not to mention possibly saving more lifes before this one nut job takes more or takes a school full of kids hostage as his final blow before he his shot down.