[sarcasm]

The latest intelligence information about the al Qaeda efforts to penetrate foreign airports and airlines flying into this country had come in about 48 hours before and was soon deemed "credible," officials said. That information came from "a reliable source that has been corroborated by other things we know," one official said. The officials decided to take action upon combining this new information about possible air attacks with a variety of other recent intelligence showing that al Qaeda terrorists around the globe were saying in telephone calls and e-mails that they expected a series of synchronized attacks in this country around the holiday season, officials said.

"The extremists were expecting a very near-term attack in the United States," one Homeland Security official said. The government picked up "so many credible threats" that officials concluded they had to take action, he added.

[oceanview]

yes, I do not understand why they don't shut down most foreign airline flights into the US. let them fly into canada and then connect to the US.