Posted on 07/21/2004 10:21:04 PM PDT by conservative in nyc
Terrorists testing jets, crews say
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Flight crews and air marshals say Middle Eastern men are staking out airports, probing security measures and conducting test runs aboard airplanes for a terrorist attack.
At least two midflight incidents have involved numerous men of Middle Eastern descent behaving in what one pilot called "stereotypical" behavior of an organized attempt to attack a plane.
---Snip---
A June 29 incident aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 327 from Detroit to Los Angeles is similar to a Feb. 15 incident on American Airlines Flight 1732 from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.
---Snip---
"I've never been in a situation where I have felt that afraid," said Annie Jacobsen, a business and finance feature writer for the online magazine Women's Wall Street who was aboard the Northwest flight.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Click on the link for more.
But they are also giving themselves away for free. They are not anonymous on the airplane, and will be monitored for a long time after the flight.
btt
did you catch the article? most of it seemed like a bit of hysterics from an overly imaginative woman, and apparently some of the investigators have stated they think the eyewitness accounts werent reliable. admittedly, most people would perhaps get a bit scared and have some thoughts if they saw those guys on their flight, but afterwards, and after the investigation, you might start to figure out 'hey, maybe they WERE really musicians?'
at least shes getting some self-promottion for her website and publications out of it.
Annie Jacobsen's recent piece for WomensWallStreet.Com made waves. Her account of flying with her family while 14 Middle Eastern passengers acted in a threatening and apparently coordinated manner makes for a terrifying read. Her article captures her sickening sense of both uncertainty and inevitability as what might possibly have been the next 9/11 unfolded around her.
Fortunately, nothing of the sort happened. On June 29, Northwest Airlines Flight 327 landed safely in Los Angeles and a phalanx of law enforcement greeted the suspicious passengers, whisking them away for some intense interviews. Jacobsen noted a pile of Syrian passports in the hand of a law-enforcement official.
But the men checked out, and Jacobsen was told that they were "hired as musicians to play at a casino in the desert." She was not told the name of the band, nor the name of the casino. And as her story made the rounds through the Internet and beyond (the Dallas Morning News printed a condensed version earlier this week), a note of skepticism about her story crept in. Had she imagined the whole thing? Or was the government covering up a "dry run" for another terrorist attack?
The link is here
This is BS! that they can't hold these people!
Yea, I think they were auditioning for Linda Ronstadt's new band
There are other interesting probe incidents in the story.
In Oklahoma City, the terror cell is made of of those in the auto repair business. Can't "musician" be a cover?
No doubt.
"But they are also giving themselves away for free. They are not anonymous on the airplane, and will be monitored for a long time after the flight."
This is a distraction. No one is that obvious unless they want to be noticed. Maybe this is just another tactic to terrorize us. maybe they want us to focus on air travel rather than something else. Maybe both.
they may be probing, but im doubting very much that these guys are it. they might as well have been carrying signs that say 'TERRORIST' from her description.
no if there are probes happening, then this wasnt one of them.
In the first part of 2002 I had my own experience where I observed a number of men who appeared to be of ME origin all doing things similar to what was described in Mrs. Jacobsen's story. I have a friend who's an FAM and I described the event to him and he said that it's not an unfamiliar story. They regularly see various ways in which individuals are probing different aspects of security on the craft. Some less overt than others. It does not make me comfortable.
Yea, and maybe the twin towers are still standing.
And no one on either flight had a camera....or a CAMERA CELL PHONE....should have popped of a couple megabyts of pics (of a few rolls for the oldie analog folks) of the miscreants.
Gee you just read my mind. Maybe they want us to focus on planes because they are really planning something else. In the mean time, they can freak people out. Mind games.
Why are we letting groups of middle eastern men....probably non-citizens....fly on our planes. Are we stupid or what?
I remember right after 9/11, China wouldn't permit people from 20 countries to fly on their planes. I thought this rather wise at the time.
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