Drudge - cancelled flight believed headed to attack Las Vegas

12/25/03 | Drudge

[salbam]

Developing

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

[officials said they 'remain suspicious about some passengers who did not show up at the airport to claim their seats on the ultimately aborted Flight 68 from Paris to Los Angeles. One of those who did not appear for the Christmas Eve flight apparently is a trained pilot'...]

Looks like the French leakes the news to their fellow terrorists. Short live the duplicitous French.

[hoosiermama]

Only if you had a SURPRISE waiting for them when they got inside the locked doors!

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

I hear you about the fuel thing -- but what if their goal is not to crash into something, but to be shot down? Nellis *is* right there, with many other large bases in neighboring states.

Should something toxic be aboard the plane during a cat and mouse over Vegas, shooting down the aircraft would deploy their weaponry.

Then again, this is an area in which, I am clueless.

Which chemicals/germ products would/could fit such a scenario?

[Quix]

Why do you say that. Are our defenses at the dam THAT good?

I'm skeptical!

[Route66]

If Las Vegas is at risk of a terrorist attack using another aircraft, my bet is that it's the strip they are after, not the dam. I'm sure they would be trying to reach several targets simultaneously using multiple planes, just like before.

I'd bet that 'New York, New York' is high on their target list. They could probably wipe out the whole mini-skyline replica including the Statue of Liberty with one well placed hit. This sounds the kind of flashy event steeped in symbolism that Bin Laden would like.

[Ex-Dem]

I would hope that the real NYC is very well protected right now. The thing I keep worrying about every year is that they might try to hit Times Square on New Year's Eve. I remember hearing that around a million people watch the ball drop in Times Square every year. Plus the widespread tv coverage.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

I wonder if the French crew would have handed over the controls without a fight.

That would be consistent with their past demonstrations of extreme cowardice.

[Quix]

Because that dam supplies electricity to Vegas, San Diego and LA.

Do you consider tha many millions of people without power and refrigeration a minor problem?

[Zechariah11]

>>> Short live the duplicitous French.<<<<

Is there anything worse?

[Don Carlos]

Bingo! Hoover dam would be my first guess. You would (a) turn off the lights in Las Vegas and (b) cause major flooding down-stream clear through So Cal. Lake Meade holds a LOT of water.

Thing of it this way. Without the dam - no Las Vegas, and no irrigation for much of southern California.

[Sender]

I guess I am just very skeptical about this whole plane issue. It feels like the goal of all the talk of planes is misdirection.

I have that feeling too. Sure, if they could pull it off they would love to crash some more planes. But I am leaning toward a seaborne threat for the grand finale.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

A lot of single men (many Jewish) go to Vegas on Christmas. A lot of college bowl game betting going on this weekend.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

God help us if he or she did.

God help us kill all he's, she's, it's who plan such actions. I AM PREPARED TO KILL MANY, MYSELF.

[hoosiermama]

From: The Telegraph

"American and French officials yesterday traded mutual recriminations over the failure to snare any terrorists in the security operation that grounded six Air France flights in and out of Los Angeles.

Bush administration officials expressed frustration that al-Qa'eda operatives might have escaped capture after word leaked, early this week, of American concerns about flights from France to the United States over the Christmas period.

One official said Washington had been hoping to keep the US-French negotiations confidential, adding that the hope was that "we would be able to lure some of these people in". "

[rocksblues]

Surprise! If I knew they were coming they wouldn't make it within 300 miles of the Fort!

[gg188]

I doubt they will ignore any Arab acting weird here again.

I dunno. Airports routinely ignore 30-yo Arab men boarding planes. To single them out in any way would be profiling, which is illegal and, worse, is very offensive to the Religion of Peace.

[nwctwx]

Why do you say that. Are our defenses at the dam THAT good? I'm skeptical!

I have no clue how well defended the dam is... the simple fact is that it would be very hard to destruct.

[the invisib1e hand]

Las Vegas

I think the angle is 'sin city.' First the big symbols of capitalism, then sin city... guess Hollywood has to be next...

Either that, by gosh, or they're after Michael Jackson!

Think about it! He was in NYC on 9/11... we know he hangs in Vegas...whoa! Homeland Security better home in on Neverland!

[rocksblues]

You are right. To be politically correct they use a 1 out of 7 system. LOL

[nwctwx]

Because that dam supplies electricity to Vegas, San Diego and LA.

Do you consider tha many millions of people without power and refrigeration a minor problem?

I realize what the dam does, but there are presumably easier ways of taking out the power grid (as we saw during the Summer in the east). Loss of power/refrigieration would only be part of it... downstream areas would be a disaster.