Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Air Force Travel ban

The US Air Force has lifted its ban on travel to London by all service personnel. The ban had been in effect since last Friday. Probably a good idea as long as everyone behaves rationally.

That reminds me of something I saw while visiting the Mardasson Monument at Bastogne last week. There were a number of cars parked in the lot with clear indications that they were owned by US military personnel. {The cars had EU license plates, but they said USA and had the word pentagon on them as well.} I didn't see anyone in uniform at the Monument or in the Historical Center, so I figured whoever was driving those cars was in civilian clothes. Maybe they are civilian employees of the Pentagon, I don't know.

What I do know, is that it struck me that these people were easy targets. It would not have been very hard to isolate these cars after they'd left the Monument. The surrounding country is virtually uninhabited. Obviously, I'm not worried about the average Belgian or German, but there are people living in Europe for whom killing Americans – especially those in the military – is an imperative. Is there no way to make our military personnel a little less conspicuous?