Germanwings horror: Terrorism is terrorism

It all started out as a normal day and a normal flight: 150 people on board the Germanwings flight #9525, departing Barcelona destined for Dusseldorf.

And then, it wasn't a normal flight after all. In fact, it was a flight into hell.

The early reports of the crash of the Airbus A320 in an inaccessible area of the French Alps last week were relatively normal as such news reports go. Plane was down, all on board believed dead.

But this was not to be a "normal" plane crash, if there ever were any such thing.

As the investigation progressed, it was learned the co-pilot, 27-year-old Andreas Lubitz, a German citizen, was alone in the cockpit, had locked himself in, refused to allow the pilot to enter and had intentionally changed the altitude and flight pattern and deliberately crashed the plane.

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The plane had been cruising at 38,000 feet and, within 10 minutes, dropped to just above 6,000 feet and, at full speed, slammed into the mountain.

Until that sequence of events, everything was normal. Apparently, the pilot left the cockpit, possibly to use the restroom, and when he returned and tried to open the cockpit door, he wasn't able to get in.

The black box audio record shows that Lubitz remained in the cockpit, breathing normally but saying nothing. In the background is the sound of the pilot pounding on the door, trying to get into the cockpit. At the end of the recorded audio is the sound of screams from the passengers.

And then it was over – the plane and its contents smashed into pieces and scattered over a mountainous terrain, which makes searching more than difficult – rescuers need to be helicoptered in and out.

Was it murder? Was it suicide? Was he sane? Was he sick? Was he a terrorist?

In a peculiar sense, we could use the notable quote from Hillary Clinton: "What difference, at this point, does it make?

And that's true. What difference does it make? The reality is, despite what we finally learn about the reason for this catastrophe, there are 149 people who are dead who should not be.

As the father of one victim said, it doesn't matter the motive; all that matters is that his son is dead.

I really don't care that Andreas Lubitz is dead. If he wanted to die, there were other ways to accomplish that without taking with him so many innocents.

Two babies were killed, as were two opera singers and 16 German high-school exchange students and their two teachers. Most of the victims were German and Spanish, but there were victims from 12 other countries and 10 with dual citizenships.

It's reported there were three Americans among the victims.

I find it more than sad that the knee-jerk, first reaction of the U.S. government was to essentially rule out "terrorism" rather than extending condolences to the families of American victims and all the others.

It appears the primary concern of the Obama administration is to stay as far away from "terrorism" as possible; they don't want to be seen as blaming militant Islam for anything.

But think about it – isn't the deliberate crashing of a passenger jet "terrorism," even if religion has nothing to do with it? Whether the person at the controls is driven by personal demons or religious zealots seeking political control, the tactic is "terrorism," and the result is traumatic fear for innocent people, which is in fact, the purpose of terrorism.

The horror of the search of the wreckage was made clear as rescuers reached the crash scene and saw the virtually complete destruction of everything and everyone.

You could make a joke and say they were looking for "people pieces" – but that's no joke, because that is the situation.

Police have reported gathering 400 to 600 pieces of remains. Not one single body has been found intact.

It's too awful to contemplate.

And now we know that Lubitz had been having mental issues concerning depression and vision problems and, in fact, had a note from his doctor saying he should not fly. The note was found torn up in a wastebasket in his house.

The big question is why didn't his company know about this and his ongoing medical problems?

Is this a case of medical privacy being more important than the lives and safety of passengers?

If the company did know, why was Lubitz allowed to fly?

Was he on antidepressant medications? It's well known such drugs often make depression worse and can cause homicidal and suicidal actions.

Lufthansa, which owns Germanwings, hasn't commented on this, but it is something that needs to be addressed.

The company also needs to change procedures so there are always two people in the cockpit. If the pilot has to leave, a flight attendant should replace him until he returns.

That's the procedure in the U.S., and it makes sense.

Post-9/11, the great concern was to secure the cockpit so potential terrorists couldn't get in and overpower the pilot. But, with totally secure cockpit doors, it's impossible to get in the cockpit in an emergency.

One subject not being mentioned is Lubitz's religion. There are rumors he recently converted – but from or to what, no one knows or is saying. It's the real hot potato in this tragedy, because no one in political authority wants to deal with what could be another Islamic terrorist attack on the West.

This is what happens when politicians want to wish away reality and, unfortunately, what happens when innocents have to die, regardless of their nationality.

My only wish is that we're told the truth once the investigation is over.

I admit, I'm not confident of that.

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