Officials say al-Qaida operatives may be fully trained airline pilots

MSNBC.com ^ | 12/22/03 | NBC

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Authorities raised the terrorist threat assessment over the weekend after new intelligence indicated that operatives of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terror network, possibly trained and licensed to fly passenger jets, may now be pilots for some foreign airlines, ideally positioning them to carry out suicide attacks, U.S. officials told NBC News on Monday.

Reinforced cockpit doors intended to thwart hijackers after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks would now protect any terrorist pilot at the controls, the officials said on condition of anonymity.

Authorities would not describe the terror threats in detail publicly, but the U.S. officials told NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski that the threat alert would remain at “orange,” or high, through the end of January, which they said was an indication of its seriousness.

[thoughtomator]

Bush couldn't stop it, even if he declared martial law. He'd be forced into a choice between interning Muslims, or interning everyone.

[tbeatty]

Most international flights would have very little fuel when they reach the US. THis makes it safer. it's flights from Canada that are scary. I have a feeling that Orange mean CAP cover is intensified just for this reason.

Killing people in airplanes though would be very easy. I hate to say it, but it would be very easy to crash a small airplane into a large airplane on the ground except possibly at the biggest airports (ORD, JFK, LAX). Now imagine, multiple coordinated attacks. This is what scare me. Small scale coordinated attacks.

[CaptSkip]

How many would die if on approach a "heavy" powers up and slams into a terminal at JFK or LAX?

UNPREVENTABLE?

[HamiltonJay]

Hahah I see, so a gun in the cockpit is going to make you safer when the pilot is the terrorist? Just a flipping loony a belief as reinforced doors are the savior.

[MamaB]

Now you have done it! The Cowboys are my team and have been for many, many years.

[Diddle E. Squat]

You fear won't happen in DC. Pilots flying into DCA have been vetted. The risks may be much greater at other airports.

[glock rocks]

bump

[Beck_isright]

Be prepared folks. I don't like the tone of this warning compared to others. And remember the trucking warning posted on FR last week. The trucking industry has the worst security of any industry in the transportation arena.

[Metternich]

The only guaranteed outcome of another attack is another anti-freedom Patriot Act.

Think of it this way: every time they hit us, we get another Patriot Act.

Dirty bomb in LA -> Patriot 2
Anthrax in Chicago -> Patriot 3
Tanker explosion in NY -> Patriot 4

etc. etc. etc.

[WackyKat]

I wonder if he'd end the press conference by planting a big kiss on each of his buddies from CAIR, to show how much he loves them?

Based on past experience, top officials would be french-kissing Ibrahim Hooper and that big fat Muslim who's always on TV

[witnesstothefall]

The U.S. revokes visas of 17 pilots who fly the Caracas-Miami route for Venezuelan airline

That's the first thing I thought of, too. It has to be related.

The Venezuelan angle is strange in and of itself, but what is stranger is that I cannot find any followup on the story anywhere. The original article is the only one I saw anywhere on this rather strange story.

[azcap]

I doubt they would target a major college or professional sporting event . Those events will have hundreds of local police, private security, federal law enforcement, etc. Terrorists get their impact out of the body count. They would get just as much bang for their buck killing  a large crowd somewhere less secure. As for rural American targets - in the small town where I grew up in Indiana you can find 5000 people in the high school gym on Friday nights. The only security there is a paramedic and couple of cops working parking lot detail for the overtime. Back in the fall you'd find the same kind of crowds in high school football stadiums all over Texas and the South.

[L`enn]

Is that a theory , hunch or informed opinion?

[Diddle E. Squat]

What was your previous Freep name?

[luvbach1]

If they demonstrate their attacks are repeatable, the game will change so fast you wouldn't believe it.

And wouldn't the game be WWIII?

[Happy2BMe]

"They think we should just forget it ever happened."

We Must NEVER Forget!

---

[FairOpinion]

I think what may be happening is sending a very strong message to the rogue countries and pressuring them to stop AQ from using WMD, since they have closer connections and may well have supplied the weapons to AQ. Now those countries have a vested interest in stopping the attacks.

By now they can also see that Bush doesn't bluff.

[meyer]

Arm the pilot and copilot and call it a day.

A couple of armed passengers might be helpful as well.

[MamaB]

So, the planes or pilots would not have to come from the ME but from anywhere!

[thoughtomator]

I'm not sure you understand that in a real war all the rules change. A declaration of martial law will make all the laws moot. Does it matter what rights you had if you are dead from an enemy attack?