So far, he's not getting satisfactory responses to his questions.

"This is like McCarthyism in the 1950s," says Johnson.


http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=63406

02/24/2006

Why's a Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel on the "No-Fly" List?

By John Nichols


The federal officials who are busy assuring Americans that they've got
their act together when it comes to managing port security are not
inspiring much confidence with their approach to airline security.

When Dr. Robert Johnson, a heart surgeon who did his active duty with
the U.S. Army Reserve before being honorably discharged with the rank
of Lieutenant Colonel, arrived at the Syracuse airport near his home
in upstate New York last month for a flight to Florida, he was told he
could not travel.

Why?

Johnson was told that his name had been added to the federal "no-fly"
list as a possible terror suspect.

Johnson, who served in the military during the time of the first Gulf
War and then came home to serve as northern New York's first
board-certified thoracic surgeon and an active member of the community
in his hometown of Sackets Harbor, is not a terror suspect.

But he is an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, who mounted a
scrappy campaign for Congress as the Democratic challenger to
Republican Representative John McHugh in 2004 and who plans to
challenge McHugh again in upstate New York's sprawling 23rd District.

Johnson, who eventually made it onto the flight to Florida, is angry.
And, like a growing number of war critics whose names have ended up on
"no-fly" lists -- some of them prominent, many of them merely
concerned citizens -- he wants some answers.

"Why would a former lieutenant colonel who swore an oath to defend and
protect our country pose a threat of terrorism?" he asked, in an
interview with the Plattsburgh Press-Republican newspaper.

So far, he's not getting satisfactory responses to his questions.

No one at the Syracuse airport would tell him why he was on the list.

Nor has the federal Transportation Security Administration, which
compiles the "no-fly" files, been forthcoming -- except to say that
names are added to the watch lists on the "recommendations and
information received from federal agencies, including intelligence and
law-enforcement agencies."

The story's gotten a good deal of media attention in upstate New York,
and Johnson is speculating with reporters about whether his name ended
up on the list because he ran against McHugh as a veteran who boldly
declared that:

"I know the ravages of war and I know the sacrifices that have to be
made when a war is in our national interest. This war is not in our
national interest."

McHugh's office denies any wrongdoing by the Republican congressman, a
senior member of the powerful House Armed Services Committee who brags
about working closely with the Pentagon and intelligence agencies.

Johnson's not backing off his call for an explanation.

The physician-candidate told the Plattsburgh paper that the secrecy
surrounding his name's addition to the "no-fly" list, and the prospect
that it might be there because of his anti-war views, is outrageous.

"This is like McCarthyism in the 1950s," says Johnson.

______________________________________________________

Harry

"This is like McCarthyism in the 1950s," says Johnson.


http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=63406

02/24/2006

Why's a Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel on the "No-Fly" List?

By John Nichols


The federal officials who are busy assuring Americans that they've got
their act together when it comes to managing port security are not
inspiring much confidence with their approach to airline security.

When Dr. Robert Johnson, a heart surgeon who did his active duty with
the U.S. Army Reserve before being honorably discharged with the rank
of Lieutenant Colonel, arrived at the Syracuse airport near his home
in upstate New York last month for a flight to Florida, he was told he
could not travel.

Why?

Johnson was told that his name had been added to the federal "no-fly"
list as a possible terror suspect.

Johnson, who served in the military during the time of the first Gulf
War and then came home to serve as northern New York's first
board-certified thoracic surgeon and an active member of the community
in his hometown of Sackets Harbor, is not a terror suspect.

But he is an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, who mounted a
scrappy campaign for Congress as the Democratic challenger to
Republican Representative John McHugh in 2004 and who plans to
challenge McHugh again in upstate New York's sprawling 23rd District.

Johnson, who eventually made it onto the flight to Florida, is angry.
And, like a growing number of war critics whose names have ended up on
"no-fly" lists -- some of them prominent, many of them merely
concerned citizens -- he wants some answers.

"Why would a former lieutenant colonel who swore an oath to defend and
protect our country pose a threat of terrorism?" he asked, in an
interview with the Plattsburgh Press-Republican newspaper.

So far, he's not getting satisfactory responses to his questions.

No one at the Syracuse airport would tell him why he was on the list.

Nor has the federal Transportation Security Administration, which
compiles the "no-fly" files, been forthcoming -- except to say that
names are added to the watch lists on the "recommendations and
information received from federal agencies, including intelligence and
law-enforcement agencies."

The story's gotten a good deal of media attention in upstate New York,
and Johnson is speculating with reporters about whether his name ended
up on the list because he ran against McHugh as a veteran who boldly
declared that:

"I know the ravages of war and I know the sacrifices that have to be
made when a war is in our national interest. This war is not in our
national interest."

McHugh's office denies any wrongdoing by the Republican congressman, a
senior member of the powerful House Armed Services Committee who brags
about working closely with the Pentagon and intelligence agencies.

Johnson's not backing off his call for an explanation.

The physician-candidate told the Plattsburgh paper that the secrecy
surrounding his name's addition to the "no-fly" list, and the prospect
that it might be there because of his anti-war views, is outrageous.

"This is like McCarthyism in the 1950s," says Johnson.

______________________________________________________

Harry

"This is like McCarthyism in the 1950s," says Johnson.


http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=63406

02/24/2006

Why's a Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel on the "No-Fly" List?

By John Nichols


The federal officials who are busy assuring Americans that they've got
their act together when it comes to managing port security are not
inspiring much confidence with their approach to airline security.

When Dr. Robert Johnson, a heart surgeon who did his active duty with
the U.S. Army Reserve before being honorably discharged with the rank
of Lieutenant Colonel, arrived at the Syracuse airport near his home
in upstate New York last month for a flight to Florida, he was told he
could not travel.

Why?

Johnson was told that his name had been added to the federal "no-fly"
list as a possible terror suspect.

Johnson, who served in the military during the time of the first Gulf
War and then came home to serve as northern New York's first
board-certified thoracic surgeon and an active member of the community
in his hometown of Sackets Harbor, is not a terror suspect.

But he is an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, who mounted a
scrappy campaign for Congress as the Democratic challenger to
Republican Representative John McHugh in 2004 and who plans to
challenge McHugh again in upstate New York's sprawling 23rd District.

Johnson, who eventually made it onto the flight to Florida, is angry.
And, like a growing number of war critics whose names have ended up on
"no-fly" lists -- some of them prominent, many of them merely
concerned citizens -- he wants some answers.

"Why would a former lieutenant colonel who swore an oath to defend and
protect our country pose a threat of terrorism?" he asked, in an
interview with the Plattsburgh Press-Republican newspaper.

So far, he's not getting satisfactory responses to his questions.

No one at the Syracuse airport would tell him why he was on the list.

Nor has the federal Transportation Security Administration, which
compiles the "no-fly" files, been forthcoming -- except to say that
names are added to the watch lists on the "recommendations and
information received from federal agencies, including intelligence and
law-enforcement agencies."

The story's gotten a good deal of media attention in upstate New York,
and Johnson is speculating with reporters about whether his name ended
up on the list because he ran against McHugh as a veteran who boldly
declared that:

"I know the ravages of war and I know the sacrifices that have to be
made when a war is in our national interest. This war is not in our
national interest."

McHugh's office denies any wrongdoing by the Republican congressman, a
senior member of the powerful House Armed Services Committee who brags
about working closely with the Pentagon and intelligence agencies.

Johnson's not backing off his call for an explanation.

The physician-candidate told the Plattsburgh paper that the secrecy
surrounding his name's addition to the "no-fly" list, and the prospect
that it might be there because of his anti-war views, is outrageous.

"This is like McCarthyism in the 1950s," says Johnson.

______________________________________________________

Harry