French Tipped Off Terrorists

newsmax ^ | 28 Dec. 2003

[flamefront]

The no-shows on a Paris-to-Los Angeles flight that are now being sought by U.S. authorities may have escaped the dragnet due to French authorities quickly announcing that the cancellation of Christmas flights to Los Angeles were ordered for security reasons.

According to a report in the Washington Times, the premature announcement resulted in "a chorus of groans" from the Department of Homeland Security to the White House.

An unnamed U.S. source is cited as saying that Washington believed that the longer publicity could have been avoided, "the greater the chance to catch anybody else who was suspected of being involved. The French announcement caught everyone off guard."

Nine persons on the passenger list for Air France Flight AF068 to Los Angeles on Dec. 24 were questioned and released by French authorities that concluded the detained passengers did not meet any suspect profiles.

However, the U.S. concerns centered on passengers whose names matched those on a U.S. terrorism watch list -- but who failed to show up for the flights, according to the Times report.

Among the no-shows was a Tunisian passenger reported to be a licensed pilot and suspected of having ties to al-Qaeda.

Air France has resumed normal service to Los Angeles.

[flamefront]

France as part of the axis of evil, once again. Preventing Turkey from supporting US operations wasn't enough.

[prairiebreeze]

France is funding AQ. I'd wager on it.

Prairie

[hummingbird]

France is funding AQ. I'd wager on it.

I can't figure out the details/reasons yet, but my gut agrees that AQ is funded somehow by France. Arghhh......

[SandRat]

Well, this just proves that no good deed goes unpunished. We liberated France twice and they've screwed us over and over and over ever since. Germany, you now have our permission to invade, conquer, and in perpetuity occupy the French

[CindyDawg]

Well maybe we ought to suspend all flights from France to the US for awhile for "security reasons"

[prairiebreeze]

Agreed! Perhaps for a looong while.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Good idea !

[mollynme]

Here is the original Washington Times article

[CatOwner]

"France is funding AQ. I'd wager on it."

Assuming that the above is true, the only reasonable explanation I could come up with is that the French have been blackmailed by AQ, much like the Saudis.

[armyboy]

Once again France screws the pooch.

[randog]

France is funding AQ. I'd wager on it.

Some time ago, back when the invasion of Iraq was being stymied by the French et.al., the idea of treating France as a rogue nation was being debated here on FR. A freeper pointed out then that France was a good allie when it came to sharing intelligence on terrorists. Obviously that is not the case now (if it ever was).

I will not be surprised if I see France and the US in some type of conflict within my lifetime, with the US fighting the French directly ("The 3 Hour War") or through a proxy (have at it Germany--3's a charm and we promise we'll sit this one out.).

[ClearCase_guy]

I don't think its blackmail. This how France has handled foreign policy for 500 years. Within whose sphere of influence is France?

Germany
Italy
Spain
England
US

Who is the strongest? Well, France will form an alliance with anyone (anyone at all) so that they can weaken the strong guy. France has done precisely this since the Renaissance -- and look, they failed to pursue this with Germany twice in the 20th century, and were invaded both times. They re-learned the lesson. Now, France see the US as the big dog, and so France probably went shopping for some group that could hurt the US position around the world. I think it's completely calculated.

[pctech]

I've said it before, France is aiding and abeting the enemy, and they should be treated as such. Far as I'm concerned, France should be the next country we invade, as part of the Axis of Evil.

[metalboy]

Hey, it`s all Bushs fault. Using telepathy, he made the French act like robots and uncontrollably warn the terorrists.

[Luke Skyfreeper]

NOBODY, not even CLOUSEAU, could be that damn incompetent. They ******* did this on purpose.

---

s. Sons of ******s. Oh well, they've lain down with dogs, and they're going to get up with fleas.

[hosepipe]

"I would rather have the Germans in front of me than the French behind me"- General George S. Patton, 1944.

[mewzilla]

This really raises some interesting questions, too: 1)Why did the French feel such an urgent need to warn the bad guys that they burned themselves doing it? 2)Were they protecting the bad guys, or some new methodology that the bad guys would have revealed upon interrogation, or both and if so what is it? 3)Where is/are the security holes in France and have they been plugged? 4)Why didn't we figger we'd be screwed by the Frogs and have people in place to bag the bad guys if/when the Frenchies warned them?

[prairiebreeze]

Blackmailed into providing cover in return for "protection". The French are huge appeasers. IMO, it's just not much of a stretch.

Prairie

[CindyDawg]

people in place to bag the bad guys if/when the Frenchies warned them?

From what I read , I don't think they even showed up.