Posted on 07/15/2004 6:19:30 AM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at womenswallstreet.com ...
Pinging you in case you didn't see this.
I for one will not sit still while the plane is blown apart buy 14 worshippers of Satan.
I can understand your concern for your mother's health, but if I were on the flight I'd be thankful she was searched. Wheelchairs can hide anything and being metal, well that just makes it easier. Poor little elderly folks would be my next choice of recruitment if I were a terrorist. Hey, no one is going to suspect an elderly person, especially a sick one. I'd save my able bodied young men for other tasks and send the old geezer (certainly no offense to your mom!) off to his/her 72 virgins. Today, we're profiling ME men but the next generation of recruits might be of any race or gender or age, who knows? There could even be something planted in a pet or a coffin in cargo. We can only be sure of one thing, if someone wants to do harm they can find a way to it.
I seem to recall that it wasn't until after 9/11 that James Woods realized what he had witnessed and notified the FBI. The FBI had agents interviewing JW on 9/12-9/13 or so.
If memory serves.....
Did you see the thread somewhere around here in the past few days that whites are now (or will be by next week) in the minority in TX?
Yes, it wasn't till after 911, but it was right after that that he started speaking of it.
Someone somewhere on the thread said it was a year later that his story came out, but I know it wasn't that long after. It was right after.
That's true, Stalin was not yet our enemy.
And the left, except for the communist left of course, were not in any way radical the way they are today.
This is a whole other world, isn't it?
Now, now, you know that isn't so.
Only people who read Bibles are tackled and detained. They are the "real" enemy.
R4E -- thanks for this post, Tamsey, thanks for pinging me to this.
It did send shivers down my spine.
And then to top it off, I read:
"remains the policy today to fine airlines if they have more than two young Arab males in secondary questioning because that's discriminatory. "
With rules like that, we might as well stop pretending that there is any security whatsoever.
Also -- read this and cry:
This is an official DOT message to the airlines:
http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/rules/20010921.htm
This message was e-mailed to major airlines and aviation associations on September 21, 2001. It concerns the aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.
Since the terrorist hijackings and events of September 11, we have seen several reports of airlines apparently removing passengers from flights because the passengers appeared to be Middle Eastern and/or Muslim. We caution airlines not to target or otherwise discriminate against passengers based on their race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, or based on passengers' names or modes of dress that could be indicative of such classification. Various Federal statutes prohibit air carriers from subjecting a person in air transportation to discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, or ancestry. At DOT, we are and will continue to be vigilant in ensuring that the airport security procedures, mandated by FAA and implemented by the airlines, are not unlawfully discriminatory.
We strongly encourage each airline to take steps to ensure that its employees understand that, not only is it wrong, but it is also illegal to discriminate against people based on their race, ethnicity, or religion. Recently, the President and Chief Operating Officer of Delta Airlines sent a letter to all of the airline’s employees worldwide requesting tolerance of all people and cultures, and explaining that its employees must comply fully with civil rights laws. A copy of this letter is attached.
Norman Strickman
Assistant Director for Aviation Consumer Protection
Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings
Office of the General Counsel
U.S. Department of Transportation
Delta letter
Sent to:
Alaska Airlines
America West Airlines
American Airlines
American Trans Air
Continental Airlines
Delta Air Lines
Air Transport Association
International Air Transport Association
Northwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines
Trans World Airlines
United Airlines
US Airways
Regional Airline Association
Air Carrier Association of America
This is the Internet. What do you think he's doing the rest of the time?
More to read and cry over -- also from DOT official guidelines, issued shortly after 9-11, on Oct. 12, 2001:
http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/rules/20011012.htm
This is a reminder to Department of Transportation (DOT) employees and those carrying out transportation inspection and enforcement responsibilities with DOT financial support of longstanding DOT policy prohibiting unlawful discrimination against individuals because of their race, color, religion, ethnicity, or national origin. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, have raised concerns about intimidation and harassment directed at individuals who are, or are perceived to be, of Arab, Middle Eastern, or South Asian descent and/or Muslim. Federal civil rights laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of a person’s race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, ancestry, or disability.
Do not subject persons or their property to inspection, search and/or detention solely because they appear to be Arab, Middle Eastern, Asian, and/or Muslim; or solely because they speak Arabic, Farsi, or another foreign language; or solely because they speak with an accent that may lead you to believe they are Arab, Middle Eastern, Asian, and/or Muslim.
Use the “but/for” test to help determine the justification for your actions. Ask yourself, But for this person’s perceived race, ethnic heritage or religious orientation, would I have subjected this individual to additional safety or security scrutiny? If the answer is “no,” then the action may violate civil rights laws.
bump
Yeah, I would have at the very least made my concerns known in a very loud manner. Another poster could have hit it when he said that it could have been a ploy to identify the Air marshals though. Tough call, but I don't think doing nothing would have been an option....for me at least.
camera flash == detonator
Whooo. What a story. I read in a magazine after 9/11 (don't remember which; just one of those you pick up in the waiting room) about how well the Israelis train their people. If someone comes in to Israel for some kind of art study, for instance, they'll be interviewed by someone with that expertise. They just don't slack off. But they have to do it for their own survival, and I think we should as well.
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