US has flight numbers of specific hijack targets

NewsMax ^ | 12.23.03 | NBC

[CaptSkip]

U.S. Has Flight Numbers of Specific Hijack Targets

Intelligence gathered by Homeland Security and Defense Department officials that caused terror alert levels to be elevated on Sunday included specific airline flight numbers targeted for hijacking by al Qaeda as well as the names of airports involved in the plot.

"U.S. intelligence agencies had gathered detailed information about the plan, in which they said al Qaeda operatives would hijack foreign airliners and fly them into targets in the United States," reported NBC News late Tuesday. "In some instances, the intelligence is so detailed as to include specific flight numbers," the network said.

"Federal air marshals, who usually fly only on domestic flights, are now boarding international airlines into those airports," NBC revealed.

U.S. officials said the highly detailed intelligence includes the name of at least one East Coast airport : New Jersey's Newark International, where incoming flights are being closely watched.

In addition to large urban centers like New York and Los Angeles, al-Qaeda is also believed to be targeting Las Vegas, according to the network's sources. Las Vegas is the nation's No. 2 vacation destination and is scheduled to host a number of large conventions and trade shows beginning next month.

Surface-to-air missiles have been deployed by the Pentagon to many of the cities most likely to be targeted.

[randog]

Would you proceed with your plan to hijack Flight 317 if you believed that the FBI would be waiting for you. Methinks not. I think discouraging the al Queda by letting them know that they have been intercepted/infiltrated is the goal. The leak was on purpose.

Thanks for pointing that out.

[mhking]

Just damn.

If you want on the new list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[Ramius]

Huh? Who leaked? You mean wildly inaccurate stories by cable news networks?

I'm *shocked* shocked I say!!! This has *never* happened before!!!

[nhoward14]

I don't implicitly trust the media, but that doesn't mean the story isn't true. The point is it is hard to tell what is true and what isn't. Therefore, why run the story at all? I wish they just wouldn't run stories on what information we may or may not have. It certainly stirs up the homeland and may tip off the enemy.

[larlaw]

Excellent point about the specific flight info. Perhaps we have SOME intel, but are bluffing them into aborting their plans by giving the impression we know more than we do in leaks to the press.

On another note, I live here in Las Vegas, and FRONT PAGE of the local newspaper and being repeated on ALL of our local newscasts are reports direct from our Governor that there is NO information that Las Vegas is specifically targeted. As anyone who is following the threads on this on FR knows, and as the NBC/MSNBC reports clearly state, Las Vegas has indeed been mentioned prominently as a target for quite awhile now. I certainly understand not wanting to panic the public and concerns about damaging our tourist based economy, but this is taking things a bit too far...

[MediaMole]

The missiles from Aegis cruisers have a good track record in taking out passenger jets.

[oceanview]

even these kind of stories have a source somewhere in the intel community.

[COEXERJ145]

The missiles from Aegis cruisers have a good track record in taking out passenger jets.

True. The Vincennes used its SM-2 to toast the Iranian A-300B4 over the Persian Gulf.

Only problem with deploying SM-2's is you would have to have one of the DDG's or CG's around every city and not every city is along the coast. A PAC-2 or PAC-3 can be setup anywhere.

[Ramius]

Yes, they do. And sometimes they are wrong. Sometimes they are right.

Maybe Saddam was in fact taken on a stretcher from a hole in Baghdad that first night. So?

We didn't have him then, but we have him now. Done deal.

[CaptSkip]

You are sooo bad! :^)

[PISANO]

Anything for a scoop!! The founders would reconsider if they were alive today.

[MediaMole]

Works for LA, NYC and Washington, DC. Especially with flight inbound from overseas.

[Criminal Number 18F]

Some big difference between Stinger and Soviet weapons. The DHL airbus was actually hit by an SA-16 Igla-1 (NATO reporting name GIMLET). The Paris Match photos make it pretty clear.

The Airbus survived strictly because of absolutely outstanding airmanship on the part of the crew. The aircraft was saved (well, nominally; it is probably uneconomic to repair, although insurance has not made the call AFAIK) and the cargo spared (which was, I believe, mostly US Mail) by prompt and skillful action of the airfield fire crews.

The Stinger (Avenger is the mounted version) has a few tricks that even the SA-16 hasn't got. I would not want to be flying a plane hit by either.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[COEXERJ145]

I'm all for parking a DDG or CG in any port city that is considered a target. After Sept. 11th, the Navy had @ least one in New York and I think one in D.C.

[FoxPro]

There will never be a successful hijack of a US airliner ever again. The passengers will not permit it.

[Criminal Number 18F]

Surface-to-air missiles have been deployed by the Pentagon to many of the cities most likely to be targeted.

In the fifties and sixties, this was de rigeur. We had fixed air defence sites around our major metropolitan areas (in the fifties there were even AA guns, like Berlin in WWII).

When ballistic missile defence is ready, it will certainly be deployed and stand on guard like the Nike-Herc, Nike-Ajax, and Bomarc (among others) did in bygone years.

d.o.l.

Criminal Number 18F

[LasVegasMac]

I was informed that the Mafia is no longer involved in Las Vegas.

You have my word on it.

I made them an offer they could not refuse, so they left.

LVM

[Prolifeconservative]

"I'm hanging on Fox News to get the current spin."

Did you catch Laurie Duhe tonight. She is a Drama-Queen, much like Rita Crosby. Tonight she said, "if you are on a commercial airliner or in an airport tonight....you could be in danger." That's just flat-out hyperbole. I wish they would report and let us decide.

[Revel]

One also has to worry that some plane that is slightly off course with no malicous intent will be blown out to the sky if the military percieves them as a threat.

[Prolifeconservative]

"There will never be a successful hijack of a US airliner ever again. The passengers will not permit it."

Ah yes, you are forgetting one thing........those re-enforced steel doors to keep terrorists out of the cockpit. What happens when a terrorist successfully poses as a lisenced pilot?

Remember, they beat us at our own game the first time.......