[conservative in nyc]

The Annie Jacobsen story has made the Washington Times. Apparently, there was a similar dry run on a flight from San Juan to Kennedy.

Click on the link for more.

[Vince Ferrer]

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.

[drq]

btt

[sweneop]

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.

[aruanan]

The Annie Jacobsen story has made the Washington Times.

Turns out that what she saw was, indeed, only a weird band on its way to a gig in Southern California.

[GeronL]

The National Review website says the 'Mystery of the Syrian Musicians is solved'.

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

[tophat9000]

This is BS! that they can't hold these people!

[TheDon]

"It's a probe. They are probing us," said a second air marshal, who confirmed that Middle Eastern men try to flush out marshals by rushing the cockpit and stopping suddenly.

There are other interesting probe incidents in the story.

[Frapster]

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.

[Texas_Jarhead]

WOW! This article blew me away wuth stuff like this:

"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.

The second pilot said terrorists are "absolutely" testing security."

and this too

""It's a probe. They are probing us," said a second air marshal, who confirmed that Middle Eastern men try to flush out marshals by rushing the cockpit and stopping suddenly."

[TheLion]

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.

[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.

[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?

[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.

[The Raven]

ping

[mtbopfuyn]

The passenger was stopped, and the incident, which happened two months ago, was reported to officials. But when the attendant checked back last week on the outcome, she was told her report had been lost.

Please, please, please it wasn't lost but that someone behind the scenes is investigating this big time. These are just the ones who have been noticed and reported. There is MUCH, MUCH more polotting by terrorists than we're even aware of. Bottom line (and the airline industry's bottom line) is air travel or any other mass transit travel is not safe. As suspected for months, and recently confirmed, terrorists are coming in through our open borders. Cells are fully established from Washington, to Texas, to Seattle. Folks, we are at war.

[Smartaleck]

Bump....getting good play on Fox. Another story tomorrow supposedly.

[GBA]

What is disturbing is that if these hadn't been "dry runs", they most likely would have been successful. I'm not for completely succumbing to paranoia, but why wait for the next terrorist attack to get serious? From the sound of things, passengers and flight crews are watching the events around them as though it were on tv and not on their airplane.

[Half Vast Conspiracy]

A Middle Eastern passenger attempted to videotape out the window as the plane taxied on takeoff and, when told by a flight attendant it was not permitted, "gave her a mean look and stopped taping," said a written report of the San Juan incident by a flight attendant.

A "mean look"? This all may be true, but the embellishment and imagination added to the stories is just silly.

[ride the whirlwind]

I saw Annie Jacobsen being interviewed on CNN (!) about this....must've been last night.

[gathersnomoss]

"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."

And we are not arresting each of them and sending them to Gitmo because........? Oh, that's right. We must be PC.