Drudge - cancelled flight believed headed to attack Las Vegas

12/25/03 | Drudge

[salbam]

Developing

[CyberAnt]

Yes, I think you're right .. because I heard on FOX that when we first requested the cancellation of the flights, France said no .. but then WE SAID: YOUR PLANES WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO LAND HERE (USA). I suspect France was not too anxious to make us look good by detaining people and actually finding them to be involved.

[Celtjew Libertarian]

Sorry, but this is definitely not a win in our column. The terrorists escaped to do it another day.

Call it draw, then. They may have escaped, but they were stopped.

[Arthur McGowan]

Works for me.

[PAR35]

What about the power dam in the area? That would be a more likely target!

You forgot about the alien spacecraft hangared out at Area 51.

[NYC GOP Chick]

Oh, OK. Thanks. Like I said, I haven't been there in a very long time.

[riri]

I lve that picture. "Yeah, we've got Photoshop too."

[Lurking in Kansas]

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

Surely you jest, we all know what kind of fight those french surrender-monkeys would have put up... they'ld have surrendered control of the plane before it pulled away from the terminal in Paris!!

[Phsstpok]

Sorry, but this is definitely not a win in our column. The terrorists escaped to do it another day.

No, this is a big win. Not as big as catching or killing them, I agree, but stopping them from killing innocents today is always a win, at least for those people. Any other interpretation is short sighted or sour grapes.

[padfoot_lover]

Pulled this from the thread from yesterday regarding arrival times: CNN reports AirFrance Flights #68, 70 & 382 were canceled. 68 was to arrive in LAX 4:05pm, 70 at 9:30pm and 382 1:25pm in Cincinatti and then on to LAX.

The game started at 7:30 EST.

[nhoward14]

OK, let's call it a draw.

[hoosiermama]

Hoover Dam:In Black Canyon on the Colorado River, about 30 miles southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada.

[Victoria Delsoul]

Those infidel lap dancers will think twice before laughing at Al Qaeda's Arabian manhood.

LOL, I shouldn't laugh, but I must admit, you are funny.

[Maigrey]

Well, to be honest, some of the shows in Vegas have 2000-3000 people in one building, and it would be connected to a hotel/resort. (I'm thinking of one in particular...) and it would devestate the local and regional economy for years.

[Roscoe Karns]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=518&e=4&u=/ap/20031226/ap_on_re_eu/france_terror_threat



France Says No Proof of Hijack Plot Found
3 minutes ago

By VERENA VON DERSCHAU, Associated Press Writer

PARIS - French investigators questioned seven men pointed out by U.S. intelligence but found no evidence they planned to use a Los Angeles-bound jet to launch terror attacks against the United States, French authorities said Thursday.


AP Photo



American warnings of a plot had prompted Air France to cancel six flights on Wednesday between Paris and Los Angeles — three in each direction — amid a stepped-up terror alert level in the United States.


U.S. intelligence officials told their French counterparts that members of the al-Qaida terrorist network would try to board the planes over Christmas, said a French judicial official, speaking on condition of anonymity.


The seven questioned men, who all had tickets for Air France Flight 68 to Los Angeles, were on a watch list provided by U.S. authorities, an Interior Ministry spokesman said. But all were released after questioning Wednesday night, the spokesman said.


"There are no longer any investigations," he said.


France's anti-terrorism judicial unit chose not to launch a formal investigation because of a lack of evidence of an attack, the judicial official said. None of the passengers on the canceled flights, including those questioned at the airport, were known to French intelligence authorities or found to have links with Islamic extremist groups, the official said.


French authorities also investigated a man from Tunisia whose name was supplied by American intelligence. But the judicial official said man was in Tunisia with no plans to leave for the United States. He has no criminal record and does not belong to any radical Islamic groups.


Passengers were subjected to intense searches before being told hours later that their flights had been canceled. Many were angry.


"We had to wait nearly six hours without any explanation as to what was going on. We noticed dogs and police," said Jean-Marie Buchet, 54, of Paris, who was traveling to Los Angeles to spend the holidays with family. "Everyone was very irritated. We imagined it was to do with security, but they could at least have told us."


Still, the French government portrayed the operation as an example of cooperation between France and the United States on terrorism.


"What is important is that the evaluation of threats continue, and they are undertaken between the Americans and the French in a framework of intense cooperation," said a spokesman for the prime minister's office. "Franco-American cooperation in this domain is exemplary."


Officials from the U.S. Homeland Security Department met with French officials in recent days to discuss terrorism concerns as part of an effort to get foreign airlines to provide American officials with more information about people on flights heading to the United States, a U.S. official said earlier this week.


France and Mexico were of particular concern in this regard, the official said on condition of anonymity.


On Thursday, frustrated passengers scrambled to reacher their destinations.


"I am angry," said Jannita Moe, a 61-year-old from Tahiti who was flying home via Los Angeles. "You don't notify people at the last minute."


After missing her flight, she was forced to rebook an itinerary that was to take her through South Korea (news - web sites) and New Zealand en route to Tahiti — a 38-hour journey.


Air France said that flights were to resume normal service Friday

[aristeides]

Hoover (then Boulder) Dam was one of the objects of the saboteurs in Hitchcock's Saboteur.

[NYC GOP Chick]

Good points. However, are any of these buildings tall enough and do they stand out enough to get hit by a plane?

[Lurking in Kansas]

LOL, I shouldn't laugh, but I must admit, you are funny.

Go ahead and laugh, it was funny!!

[Beck_isright]

Any time. It's been a few years since I've been there (since I refuse to fly now, unless absolutely necessary) but I get a ton of offers and ads for rooms every month.

[Maigrey]

Yep. The MGM Grand was the one I was thinking of. On some nights, the theatre attached has a show going on, and the amount of people in the casino and theatre would be close to 5000 people (and this wouldn't include anyone in the hotel.)

[Semper911]

What about the power dam in the area? That would be a more likely target!

Yes, Hoover Dam would make a fine target in the daytime...

Or at night:

The West would be toast. Period.