Second passenger saw suspicious behavior (Syrian musicians)

Washington Times ^ | 7/30/04 | Audrey Hudson

[kattracks]

Government officials are questioning a passenger's account of alarming and suspicious behavior by Syrian musicians aboard a recent flight to Los Angeles, although a second passenger has corroborated the events.
    The second passenger, a frequent business traveler who asked not to be identified, provided a copy of her itinerary confirming she was on the June 29 Northwest Airlines Detroit-to-Los Angeles Flight 327, which was disrupted by 14 Syrian passengers later identified as musicians.
    The passenger, who was riding in first class, said the constant foot traffic and strange behavior she witnessed in the front cabin frightened her as much as it did Annie Jacobsen, the first passenger who publicly reported the incident.
    "I thought I was going to die," the second passenger told The Washington Times. "And that makes me furious because that's the whole point of terrorism, to make people afraid. It makes me mad that they achieved that. But I'm not letting it stop me from taking other trips."
    The incident on Flight 327 highlighted concerns that terrorists have been making "dry runs" on commercial jets in preparation for attacks.
    Homeland Security and FBI officials briefed Senate Judiciary Committee staffers Wednesday. The House Judiciary Committee also is conducting an oversight review of what happened on the flight.
    Federal officials agreed the activity was suspicious but doubted the account by Mrs. Jacobsen and her husband, said one staffer who attended the briefing.
    "They emphasized repeatedly there were material discrepancies between what the two [passengers] reported and what the flight attendants and federal air marshals observed," the staffer said.
    Air marshals, pilots and flight attendants, however, back the passenger's account because they say such events are happening regularly.

[jwalburg]

WOW! You can't help wonder if the homeland security folks are deliberately downplaying this for some reason.

[steve86]

For some reason DHS did not want the original writer's story to be seen as credible. I think it was credible. It seems our LE agencies like to look in all the wrong places.

[beaversmom]

The Homeland Security Department did not return a call for comment, but has said it has no intelligence on such activities.

Well, I'm sure glad we spent all that money to create another useless bureaucracy.

[endthematrix]

"Federal officials agreed the activity was suspicious but doubted the account by Mrs. Jacobsen and her husband, said one staffer who attended the briefing.
"They emphasized repeatedly there were material discrepancies between what the two [passengers] reported and what the flight attendants and federal air marshals observed," the staffer said. "

Uh, the account took place and corroborated, regardless of "material discrepancies". It's not a wild-eyed scheme. Two passengers on the same flight recalling events. The audacity of our officials in this most serious of concerns, disturbs me.

[Stallone]

If you look deep enough, there is a Clinton appointee somewhere at the bottom of the subversion of the truth.

[beaversmom]

Upon returning to his seat, one man mouthed the word "no" as he ran his finger across his throat.

Lovely. This whole deal is very weird. Weird the way the "musicians" were acting but even more weird how our government is acting.

[TomasUSMC]

A couple of Syrians with broken arms and black eyes might have helped verify the accounts and clean up the discrepancies.

[flashbunny]

That would be mineta. Problem is he was also appointed by bush.

[jwalburg]

Publicly throwing doubt on these passengers is inexcusable. Still, the department may be trying to short-circuit terrorists by keeping these fake terrorist ploys from producting terror. Think how much economic damage they can do by simply running a bunch of fake bomb threats, notes in the seat pockets and other fake methods.

[applemac_g4]

>>The Homeland Security Department did not return a call for
>>comment, but has said it has no intelligence on such
>>activities.

Eliminate "on such activites" and you have one very accurate statement.

[applemac_g4]

If only the problem were so simple to solve as "another Clinton appointee." This appointee was Bush's - as is the behavior that is occuring under his watch.

[lewislynn]

If you look deep enough, there is a Clinton appointee somewhere at the bottom of the subversion of the truth.

And an entire new bureaucracy full of Bush appointees.

[Indie]

Right. If we get bombed...the buck stops one place.

If Bush loses...the buck stops one place.

Nobody else is responsible. Not the rats, not Klintoon, not Nader.

PC will get us killed. What does it take to finally learn..we incarcerated the Japanese in WWII, but the islamonazis are off limits, even when they pull stunts like this. We just let them go and at worse, deport them so they can try again. Big deal.

[DoughtyOne]

This really makes my blood boil.  The second person actually says, "I feared for my life."  This after a number of officals have tried to downplay the original lady's reports.

Listen to this:  Federal officials agreed the activity was suspicious but doubted the account by Mrs. Jacobsen and her husband, said one staffer who attended the briefing. "They emphasized repeatedly there were material discrepancies between what the two [passengers] reported and what the flight attendants and federal air marshals observed," the staffer said. Air marshals, pilots and flight attendants, however, back the passenger's account because they say such events are happening regularly.

What the hell is going on here?  Clearly someone is lying.  The two witnesses say it happend.  The FBI and INS showed up to greet the plane.  One unhappy lady didn't bring that about!

We're just flat ass being lied to by public officials and it's becoming more evident each day.  The flight crews are tipping us off that something is up.  They've seen it repeatedly.

Have our leaders just surrendered or what?  Frankly it's beginning to look that way.


Our borders are wide open.  People from the middle-east are now coming across our southern border.  Our ports are wide open.  Our points of entry where trucking comes across the border is wide open.  About 1 to 2% of incoming trade is inspected.

One really has to wonder.  If you've got any curiosity at all, it's just plain obvious we're being sold out here.  Why?

It is so frustrating to know our team controls the House, the Senate and the White House, yet this continues.  7 of 9 judges on the Spreme Court were appointed by Repbulicans.  Still the rulings are not infreqently disgusting.  What the hell do conservatives have to do to get the home team to take this game serious?

[supercat]

Uh, the account took place and corroborated, regardless of "material discrepancies". It's not a wild-eyed scheme. Two passengers on the same flight recalling events. The audacity of our officials in this most serious of concerns, disturbs me.

Suppose you had intelligence that some people were probably planning a 'dry run', and you were pretty darned confident that it wasn't a real attack. Would security and intelligence be better served by dissuading the people who were planning the dry run [bearing in mind that if they haven't actually done anything, intelligence may not have sufficient evidence to justify arrest] or by allowing it to proceed, letting the planners get away with things they wouldn't get away with for real, while very closely observing them?

[supercat]

Publicly throwing doubt on these passengers is inexcusable. Still, the department may be trying to short-circuit terrorists by keeping these fake terrorist ploys from producting terror. Think how much economic damage they can do by simply running a bunch of fake bomb threats, notes in the seat pockets and other fake methods.

Suppose, hypothetically, that during World War II the government was aware that a particular person was a German spy, and was feeding the person false information and monitoring his contacts. In such a situation it would have been best for the spy not to know that his oover was blown. How should the U.S. have reacted if a civilian reported suspicions that the individual in question was a spy?

[Stallone]

Norman Mineta should have been fired on day 1, as should have Richard Clarke, Joe Wilson, George Tenet, and many, many others.

But the only true Homeland Security is John and Jane Q. Public with a loaded shotgun at home, and a CCW for the road.

[AnnaZ]

 Air marshals, pilots and flight attendants, however, back the passenger's account because they say such events are happening regularly.

I think that's what folks call "the money quote".