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.

[FairOpinion]

Egyptair Flight 990 -- Oct. 31, 1999.

Crash was ruled to be caused by the pilot's suicide.

At that time, we weren't think along the line of committing suicide to deliberately kill other people.

Maybe that was a "prototype exercise".


"But there was outrage in Cairo at the claim that the Islamic el shahada prayer - believed to have been uttered by the relief pilot before the autopilot was disengaged, was a prelude to suicide and the deaths of all 217 on board. "

http://www.guardian.co.uk/egyptair/article/0,2763,196588,00.html

[ConservativeMan55]

I'm not sure about the Cargo plane theory. Or the suicide plane bomber theory. We'd shoot anything down in a heartbeat. I would hope.

About a month ago an angry Granny on a flight caused two fighter jets to escort the plane to its landing spot.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

...we already saw this happen with that Egypt Air flight...

"MindControl" v1.2.0 patch 3 beta test?

[JimSEA]

The Eygpt Air co-pilot comes immediatly to mind. H could have dumped the plane in a city had he killed the pilot during take off. I am sure the terrorist have at least thought of this senario.

[rintense]

Don't forget the symbolism in the team name... PATRIOTS.

[thoughtomator]

We interned the Japanese in WWII. I have no doubt that should we get hit hard, we will do the same to the Muslims.

[ConservativeMan55]

Oh Crap! I just realized that!

[ConservativeMan55]

The Patriots in the American Football Conference!

Is my tin foil hat too tight?

[FairOpinion]

"New intelligence indicates that al-Qaida remains intent on attacking large gatherings of people with chemical or biological weapons, official said. They said law enforcement agencies were looking closely at two rural locations — one in the East and the other in the Southwest — that were believed to be high on the terrorist target list.

Most troubling, the officials sad, were indications that al-Qaida may already possess a radiological weapon, or so-called “dirty bomb.” They did not elaborate."


===

Large gathering, outside, good weather, thousands of people: New Year's Day Rose Bowl & Rose Parade in Pasadena.
Also televised, viewed by millions around the world.

I am surprised these aren't mentioned -- in a way, I think they aren't mentioned precisely because they are targets.

[shaggy eel]

,,, other modes of transport are looking better by the day.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Don't forget the symbolism in the team name... PATRIOTS.

Aww, c'mon lovely lady. Now yer scarin' me. My boys are destined to be going back to the Bowl.

[CatOwner]

"where do you find large crowds in rural areas in the east in the middle of winter?"

"Gillette Stadium. Foxboro, Mass. This coming Sunday."

That might be their thinking, but they would be wrong. The game is on Saturday! :O

[oceanview]

a plane on final approach to LaGuardia could veer off and hit the empire state building in about 1-2 minutes. how are you going to shoot it down?

[rintense]

No, but I'm getting the Reynold's wrap out of the cupboard. Obviously, the 9-11 attackers took great pleasure in using our pride against us. An attack on the Patriots wouldn't be out of the question. Tin foil maybe. But not that silver.

[mhking]

Another likely scenario is a few female suicide bombers in a populated area-

Doug from upland posted a not-so-far-fetched scenario akin to that, tied to the ball drop at Times Square a few days ago...

[rintense]

After Tom Brady got shunned for the pro bowl, I hope the quiet Pats run amuck in the AFC. I'd love to see the Rams and Pats in the Super Bowl.

[Pro-Bush]

Bump/Ping!

[L`enn]

Here might be one place (remember to a flatlander in Washington they prolly think it is rural)

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/clubhouse?collegeId=183&sport=ncb

[SeeRushToldU_So]

Pull our troops out of the Middle East, and turn it into a parking lot.

Pave..then repeat.

I had a Vietnam era vet that I worked with during Gulf War 1, and that is what he used to say. We use to call him "Hussie" because he always had inside info we never heard, and we acussed him of having an inside track with Saddam.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

The game is on Saturday!

Now...you would think I should know that.