The following editorial appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Wednesday, Aug. 6:

Two problems in the fight against terrorism in the air came into focus in recent days: It has to be done well. And it can’t be done on the cheap.

Fifty thousand dollars might seem like chump change when it comes to money spent to keep plane travel safe from attack. That’s the amount the federal Transportation Security Administration just paid a foreign-born U.S. Army doctor to settle the lawsuit over his false arrest by federal air marshals in Philadelphia last year.

In the jittery days approaching the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, marshals on a Delta flight detained one man and held the entire passenger cabin at gunpoint for 30 minutes.

Then, passenger Bob Rajcoomar, a U.S. citizen of Asian Indian descent, was taken into detention for hours because he was “watching too closely” as marshals strapped down the first man.

Now the TSA acknowledges what was obvious from the whole episode: Some TSA agents were green recruits who needed better training, or shouldn’t have been recruited at all.

No question, more comprehensive training for TSA staff is not a luxury, nor is the careful initial screening of security personnel when hired. Those kinds of costs are to be expected – as are lodging and feeding marshals sent on longer-term, out-of-town missions.

In fact, a Transportation Security Administration memo leaked last week suggested marshals’ flight missions might be cut back due to just such lodging and other overnight expenses. Thankfully, the recommended cutbacks were scrapped soon after they became public.

The important question is whether Washington policy-makers will get the message on professionalism and cost.

Certainly, the disclosure of the TSA settlement and apology to the wronged Rajcoomar is a hopeful sign. So is the quickly sidelined suggestion of cutbacks in marshals.

TSA has done a remarkable job of creating itself in a relatively short time – tooling up airport security checkpoints with 55,000 screeners, overseeing the bulletproofing of cockpit doors, and much more. Day to day, it’s hard work, with cameras and cell phones now joining shoes as terrorists’ potential weapons.

Does the security carry a high price tag? Of course. A $5 billion budget has grown by nearly $1 billion. But the investment makes sense: Just consider the recent disclosure that five-person al-Qaeda hijacking teams may try to take to the air once again.

As a TSA official spokesman noted, the security agency isn’t immune from budget pressures. But the Bush administration and its congressional tax-cutting allies have to assure Americans who travel that their rights and their safety do not hinge upon air marshals hired on the cheap, or the ability to afford a hotel room.

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