Scouting jetliners for new attacks

The Washington Times ^ | 07/22/04 | Audrey Hudson

[Jeff Head]

Don't kid yourself. There are wheels within wheeels with these people.

The terrorists did the same type of thing a few weeks before 911...which was noticed by James Wood and nothing came of it...until they crashed the plane into the tower on 911.

Just because we don't think they will do it again...doesn't mean they wont...it also doesn't mean that they will use such ruses as ploys to divert our attention...meaning these 14 are acting out a roll in terror either way. Diversions are effective tools in any war.

We'd best remain vigilant all around...and what this lady reported proved to be well worth her concern and trouble IMHO. Clearly, the authorities were very interested as well they should have been.

[Diddley]

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.

I rather agree with you. It seems odd that they would be this "dumb".

[MPJackal]

"Gee you just read my mind"

Of course I did. You don't think I came up with that myself do ya? I went to public school.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Why are we letting groups of middle eastern men....probably non-citizens....fly on our planes. Are we stupid or what?

DING DING DING, we have a winner her!

I doubt if Bush has strange Mid Easterners wandering around Air Force One. So he shouldn't expect the rest of us to put up with this bull sh*t.

[Joe Hadenuf]

Er, a winner *here*

[endthematrix]

I read her account and thought it a little over the top...before she was interviewed. A good counter argument is to look at all the crazy non-arab people on the plane and what they do. Her back up research is what gives the story backbone. Heck, they've been probing for 20 years. As for cover-up, I think we don't know the whole stories on Egypt Air and (to a lesser degree) TWA Flight 800.

[expatguy]

These Middle Eastern men obviously knew they were causing a commotion and Im willing to bet that they revelled in the fact that their unusual behaviour would terrorize other individuals on the flight.

For those Muslims who sympathize with Osama Bin Laden, 9/11 was in essence a "coming out" party. They can suddenly be "in your face" and they relish in the fact that you are helpless to do anything about it. They know the limitations and they know exactly how far to push it. They have been well briefed on America's "freedom of religion" and know more about their "rights" than most Americans.

I see this as an abuse of freedom in the same way that mentioning that you have a bomb on a airplane, suggesting that you would like to see the President dead or yelling "fire" in a movie theatre is an abuse of one's freedom of speech.

Despite what you might think, people do not choose to live in fear. The author and all of us are entitled to "freedom from fear". The men on the plane trampled those rights.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

This part was interesting:

"A second pilot said that, on one of his recent flights, an air marshal forced his way into the lavatory at the front of his plane after a man of Middle Eastern descent locked himself in for a long period.

The marshal found the mirror had been removed and the man was attempting to break through the wall. The cockpit was on the other side."

[endthematrix]

" It seems odd that they would be this "dumb".

Dumb enough to light your shoe on fire on an airplane post 9/11? Reid probably asked someone for matches beforehand. Mentally competent for the human race, not enough for a firing squad!

[endthematrix]

Incompetent for the human race! If I could spell...LOL!

[Duke of Milan]

If this is a non-incident then the solution is simple: we should be told the name of the musical group and the name of the casino...I'm not suggesting doing anything to these individuals, but to not tell the name of the group and the casino doesn't seem legit to me, and, also, why haven't any reporters interviewed even one of these musicians? That interview would really sell a magazine or get great tv ratings.

[Diddley]

[22]
You do have a point.

[Straight Vermonter]

American Airlines Flight 1732 from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.

A google search comes up with nothing on this one. Anyone have any info on this?

[garjog]

"It seems odd that they would be this dumb."

You say that they acted dumb, yet they were smart enough to know that what they can get away with, including breaking federal law about using the restroom near landing. They were smart enough to convince authorities that they were just a cute band out to share Syrian culture with their friends the Americans.
Did anyone check to see where they played their gig?
I can't believe that the National Review discounts this obvious probe. We have to wait until terrorists sneaking around us do something illegal before we can stop them?

In a normal war, isn't spying grounds for immediate execution?

[Walkingfeather]

except for the one fact that "THEY " think we are all dumb. And wouldnt notice. As I recall actor James Woods saw the 911 highjackers acting suspicious on the same flight they took over a week later.
Remember they think every american is like someone out of baywatch... I guess we can thank Hollywood for that, giving terrorists a false impression and a false sense of security.

[xm177e2]

afterwards, and after the investigation, you might start to figure out 'hey, maybe they WERE really musicians?'

And maybe Mohammed Atta really was a student. What's your point? That terrorists can't have jobs? That terrorists wouldn't use a cover story to get 14 Arabs onto the same plane without arousing suspicion?

[twntaipan]

In fact, AQ has a penchant for continuing to try to hit their target, even if they have missed once. 911 was their second fun at the World Trade Center.

So, what have they attempted to hit to date in the USA that they haven't succeeded with? That is at least one place to anticipate they will attack.

And I believe that this time they will focus on late-night cross-country flights--originating around mid-night and going cross-country so as to catch all personnel (from flight crews, to air marshalls, to ATC, to USAF) in a tired or sleepy mode.

[BJungNan]

You can be sure that is not the only thing they are looking at. Everyone needs to be vigilant. If you see anything suspicious, report it. And get a description.

About two months ago I saw two people taking pics of power lines and a power station not far from it. They had no car in the area. One was taking picture, the other taking notes.

I reported it to the police and met a police officer at the scene. I told him I hoped I was not wasting their time, I just could not see any good reason why someone would be taking pictures there.

The officer that took the report said it was definitely not a waste of his time.

Be alert everywhere. Carry a camera with you and snap a picture or two if you see something suspicious.

[BJungNan]

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.

You are quite right about this. In fact, they took it further. China would not let people from those 20 countries even travel to China.

[endthematrix]

Using terms as "dumb" or "intelligent" is counterproductive. IMO, I think terrorist are deadly useful idiots. Most don't have it upstairs. I posted before that for all the Islamic terrorist engineers, you'd think they'd create some infrastructure. Remember the 9/11 hijackers had red flags up the wazzu by wanting to only take off and steer, not landing. It doesn't take many brain cells to kill. They are barbarians. The frustration is coming to an understanding to win, you have to become as ruthless as you enemy. America is not ready for that, yet.