Terror in the Skies Again (Absolutely Positive MUST-READ)

Womens' Wall Street.com ^ | July 2004 | Annie Jacobsen

[Rutles4Ever]

A WWS Exclusive Article

Note from the Editors: You are about to read an account of what happened during a domestic flight that one of our writers, Annie Jacobsen, took from Detroit to Los Angeles. The WWS Editorial Team debated long and hard about how to handle this information and ultimately we decided it was something that should be shared. What does it have to do with finances? Nothing, and everything. Here is Annie's story.

On June 29, 2004, at 12:28 p.m., I flew on Northwest Airlines flight #327 from Detroit to Los Angeles with my husband and our young son. Also on our flight were 14 Middle Eastern men between the ages of approximately 20 and 50 years old. What I experienced during that flight has caused me to question whether the United States of America can realistically uphold the civil liberties of every individual, even non-citizens, and protect its citizens from terrorist threats.

On that Tuesday, our journey began uneventfully. Starting out that morning in Providence, Rhode Island, we went through security screening, flew to Detroit, and passed the time waiting for our connecting flight to Los Angeles by shopping at the airport stores and eating lunch at an airport diner. With no second security check required in Detroit we headed to our gate and waited for the pre-boarding announcement. Standing near us, also waiting to pre-board, was a group of six Middle Eastern men. They were carrying blue passports with Arabic writing. Two men wore tracksuits with Arabic writing across the back. Two carried musical instrument cases – thin, flat, 18" long. One wore a yellow T-shirt and held a McDonald's bag. And the sixth man had a bad leg -- he wore an orthopedic shoe and limped. When the pre-boarding announcement was made, we handed our tickets to the Northwest Airlines agent, and walked down the jetway with the group of men directly behind us.

My four-year-old son was determined to wheel his carry-on bag himself, so I turned to the men behind me and said, "You go ahead, this could be awhile." "No, you go ahead," one of the men replied. He smiled pleasantly and extended his arm for me to pass. He was young, maybe late 20's and had a goatee. I thanked him and we boarded the plan.

Once on the plane, we took our seats in coach (seats 17A, 17B and 17C). The man with the yellow shirt and the McDonald's bag sat across the aisle from us (in seat 17E). The pleasant man with the goatee sat a few rows back and across the aisle from us (in seat 21E). The rest of the men were seated throughout the plane, and several made their way to the back.

[bvw]

Unknown? So damnably blind of you, matey!

The danger on that flight was unmistakably clear.

Here ... Did you know that one can throw a lit match into an open pail of gasoline and it will NOT explode, it will NOT burn off all your hair instaneously, melt your polyester shirt into your flesh, and then burn the gruesome melted mixture of flash and polyester cloth to black stinking ash, giving you about thirty seconds or so of the most excrutiating agony of pain pain before your burnt out lungs fail to supply the oxygen its blood and your body goes into total shock? Perfectly safe, some FOOL once assured me.

He's NOT amoung the living anymore, for soon after that some other calamity befell him. I held him back from throwing the lit match in that pail, thank G-d. I am still here.

[Jim Noble]

Do they really think we'll all be shopping at the malls when there's an attack of that sort?

Well, according to the plan they even think parents will be sending their children to school.

What they really think is that our people are so weak and stupid that if it leaks that they are planning to use malls and schools for national defense that the people will turn on them.

War requires national mobilization and THAT requires inspirational leadership and brass balls.

[Jeff Head]

Same thing happening again. Clearly, teams are at work probing, testing and dry-running.

Something's coming...maybe several somethings.

Perhpas they hope to use the destruction and break up of an aircraft in the air, over a populated city like LA to spread a chemcial or bilogical agent. Who knows?

[MACVSOG68]

I see no reason for people to necessarily have a fearful reaction just because someone who appears to be a Muslim is on a plane.

A noble sentiment, and one that the author appears to share. I notice you have gone to great lengths to ensure that you don't prejudge anyone. I laud you for that, but then become very confused when I look at your profile and find the very first thing you write to be:

Everything I need, or am willing, to say, I say in the threads. I will not reveal my identity on Free Republic, due to a certain element here, for the protection of myself and my family. I do not respond to FreepMail.

Kinda makes all that "fairness" talk ring a bit hollow, don't you think....?

[fuzzthatwuz]

"...you'd make air travel so infeasible that few businesspeople would choose to use it."

Not being argmentative here, but what would be their travel options?

[myheroesareDeadandRegistered]

Scary stuff indeed. I think they we doing some kind of drill, too. Judging by the events you mentioned the "walking around" after the LAX approach was called was probably just to give you guys the willies, IMO. A "We know you're scared and can't touch us" deal.

A little over a year ago, on a trip to St. Louis from Birmingham (on Delta)< our plane almost missed it's "go for take off" because one of the passengers would not exit the bathroom and get seated. Captain requested on speaker and the attendants at the door. The guy finally did come out just in time after repeated requests to do so. Guess what? Arabic looking fellow comes out. All nervous and perspiring heavily. He only nodded to questions. He never uttered a single word. He spent the rest of the flight looking down or with his eyes closed.

My wife (getting nervous) whispers to me "Do you think you take him out if you had to?"

Probably the guy just had a bad case of the skidders and was embarrassed that the spotlight had been shown on him during a gastric crisis, but the light way that this curious behavior was handled by the crew makes me wonder. Your story doesn't boost my confidence. Glad you guys came out OK.

[NittanyLion]

Not being argmentative here, but what would be their travel options?

Driving would suddenly become a better option for medium distances (say 8 hours or less) due to the additional couple hours needed to check and retrieve baggage. I suspect many others would just choose videoconferencing; I know I would.

There's no way I would regularly travel if I had to check bags. It's a nightmare even when the process works perfectly.

[jimbo123]

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/breaking_news/story/179528p-156059c.html

Flashback: FBI: Terrorists may use sports, arts visas to enter U.S.

Originally published on April 1, 2004

WASHINGTON — U.S. officials have received intelligence indicating terrorists might attempt to slip into the United States using cultural, arts or sports visas, according to the FBI.

The bureau issued a bulletin to 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies nationwide warning about the potential misuse of P-visas, one of several types granted by the State Department for people visiting the United States for artistic, cultural or athletic purposes.

“Recent intelligence indicates that terrorist groups may be interested in exploiting cultural visa programs to infiltrate operatives and support network into the United States,” says the bulletin, described Thursday to The Associated Press by a federal law enforcement official.

The bulletin, sent Wednesday, does not identify the source of the intelligence and contains no specific, corroborated evidence that any terrorists have entered the country this way.

[Badeye]

Projected results that are not realized.....there is a term for that.....(grin)

[texasbluebell]

I've believed since 911 that a state of war should have been declared.

It would have eliminated a whole lot of the nonsense we face now, with politicians on the left, as well as their minions, carping constantly about measures that should protect us, not divide us.

It's impossible to think we could have faced PC considerations like this during WWII and pulled together then the way we did.

It is certainly going to take some major catastrophe (as if 911 was not bad enough) to wake our govt up.

[Badeye]

"Nothing happened on 9/10/2001 either, hoss."

Or on any day since September 11th, 2001 that is remotely comparable.

Lord, I hope none of you ever experience a tornado...lest you life the rest of your lives waiting for it to come tear down your house again.

I'm glad people are paying attention, thats the single best defense "We the People" have.

But this is carrying it to an unfortunate extreme.

Nothing happened.

[Badeye]

"Vigilance and fear are not the same...I can remain without fear yet at the same time be attentive to protecting myself."

I agree, and thats at the heart of my viewpoint. The author combined the two to the point of hysteria.

Nothing happened.

[John O]

God forbid that we have another 9-11 in this country, but if that happens I for one would not object if we had a wholesale roundup of Arab nationals living in this country and deport execute the lot.

There. That's better. Why let the enemy escape once you have him?

[Badeye]

There are people in this world that want to kill all of us, of that there is no doubt.

But this article tells me much more about the author than it does about the state of security on the airlines.

And I'm sorry, her disclaimer about racism rings very hollow after considering this for an hour.

[MississippiMan]

Sadly, while the whole thing is shocking to anyone who operates according to common sense, it's not surprising when viewed in context of our government and how it operates. I've said many times that many Americans will be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness before it's all said and done.

It sounds exactly like our government to create a rule that only two Arabs can be screened. That "orthopedic" shoes can't be checked. That air marshals can only watch suspicious activity, but can't take preventive action of any kind. Insanity rules this government. It could have easily been a rehearsal operation, or even a failed operation. As for the individuals being "clean," who do you think the terrorists are gonna choose for their next phase? Easily detected criminals? Or maybe, just maybe, those with clean records?

Common sense has left the building. Our government is a bloated, self-feeding monster whose primary concern is its own survival and expansion.

MM

[AppyPappy]

I disagree. Something happened. It just wasn't fatal. We merely got served.

[John O]

I myself did not find it untill I got through baggage pickup at my destination airport and was in the hotel.

I was horrified and still to this day get weak in the knees when I think of what would have happened to me had it been found. I burried it in LA. At a cost to me of around four hundred dollars. I had no alternative. I have admitted this to no one. Especially not any family members.

OMG!! You carried your Republican National Committee card with you on an airline flight! That is a huge risk to take.

[sarasota]

Thanks for the link. It seems things are far worse than I thought. Back to rethinking further air travel bookings and turning attention to video conferencing.

[libstripper]

The 9/11 terrorists ran one or two dry runs where they didn't hurt anybody. These birds could well have been doing the sme thing. The article never could have been written if they'd taken the plane over and crashed it into downtown LA.