An April Fool

A Qatari diplomat evidently took an unauthorized smoke break on a commercial airliner bound from Washington D.C. to Denver,  and then joked about it, prompting F-16s to scramble and endangering the passengers, crew, and innocents on the ground with his ill-considered and irresponsible attempt at humor after his flagrant disregard for our rules and law. The US should pressure Qatar to remove his diplomatic immunity and prosecute him to the full extent of the law. In failing that, he must be declared persona non grata and expelled from the country. Civil suits should be brought against him by the airline, the airline's personnel who were placed in needless jeopardy, and his fellow passengers, and he or the government of Qatar should be made to pay the cost of the entire exercise. It is long past time that  arrogant, wealthy, spoiled Arab diplomats are allowed to trifle with our lives and our nation.