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 ...
After getting flamed for not living in fear over and over again. I realize you and I are not normal.
If this story is true, these men accomplished what they wanted. They scared some people on an airliner. Now they are scaring half the posters on this thread. Very sad indeed.
This sounded like a dry run. If it was for real, they would have been successful, despite so many on the plane being suspicious, including the flight crew and air marshals. At no point were they stopped from whatever it was they were doing.
If that had been for real, it appears as though it would have been successful. At no point were the suspects stopped from whatever it was they were doing. People were aware, the flight crew and air marshalls were suspicious, but no one intervened.
If causing terror were their only intent, if it hadn't been for the author's story being published, the terror would have only been limited to the few people on the plane. It sounded like a dry run, like Atta made prior to 9/11. If it was for real, they would have been successful.
Me too. While she's being interrogated, there are 14 Syrian passports sitting next to her, all for her perusal? And the part of the guy pulling out the little red book (obviously the Koran, obviously praying to Allah), then giving the dramatic "knife across the throat" gesture to his accomplice. Sounds too Hollywood screenplay to me (like all of this).
And, although I hate to say it, the Ann Coulter link raised a red flag. An odd link to post when you're trying to convince the multitudes (ie: not just GOPers) of your story. I can envision the scenario where a well-meaning person wants to publicize the idea of terrorists making a bomb piece by piece, and concocts this story to get the word out and create concern (which they have succeeded at).
Who is this Nancy Jacobsen? Has anyone vetted her yet? Any proof at all of this story?
Just maintaining a healthy skepticism...
Not necessarily. It could be that whoever was supposed to leave a component behind in the restroom failed in their mission.
Here's an idea for a new airline company. Put a pig on each flight and name the airline "Flying Pigs".
If it was for real, only their screwing it up saved that plane. All the while, no one made any effort to stop them, only to document what was happening and to pray.
That is the transparent motive of all those opposed to racial profiling of terrorists.
What scares me is that no safe guard would have stopped them. No one did anything to stop them. It doesn't sound like anyone intervened in any way. So, what lesson did we learn from 9/11?
You may perhaps be mistaking concern for fear. Most on this thread realize that Islam is a fundamental ingredient in the war we are engaged in. Most realize that while every Arab is not a terrorist, practically every act of terror is committed by Arabs, generally young male Arabs.
I have come to realize that UBL and his associates want to create an Islamic empire and at the same time kill as many Israelis and Americans as possible in the interest of that goal. I have read enough to believe that he has the financial means and network to accomplish that.
I have no idea if the story that started this thread is true or if the situation was simply embellished, and some on this thread have expressed those doubts. That's irrelevant. We were discussing the situation and the reasonable reaction to it. It's hard for me to believe that anyone experiencing that would not have been concerned. We are told over and over again to watch for suspicious activity. What was reported would, to most objective people, fall into that category.
People on this thread are not running in fear of every Arab....but they should be looking carefully at every Arab. Fear is what the Philippine and Spanish governments are expressing. America must not fear these evil people, but America must come to realize their goals and deal with them accordingly. Profiling may not be the answer, but it's a start.
So what could have been done? Acting suspicious is still not against the law.
I have always been vigilant. Long before 9/11. If I had my way there would be no foreign Muslims in the US, Arab or otherwise. But I don't have my way. I agree on profiling.
I wouldn't have even gotten on a plane with more than 1 Arab. I do not wish to be that close to them in a no control situation.
So much for security.
Personally, I never would have got on that plane.
Terrorist= terrifies.
That's their mission.
ping
Bush did nothing to stop the inflow of Arab Moslems into the US. It should completely stop, and the illegal Moslems departed. Note here my careful wordings MOSLEM Arabs are different from ARABS. The reason is simple; there are millions of Christian Arabs who are living under oppression of the Moslems. We need to rescue them, and we cannot rescue them if we are going to hate them because they speak Arabic. We actually need them to be our spies. We need to keep the dictator of Syria in power! He is better than the mullahs, which will automatically take over if we took Assad out. Iraqi Christians are being slaughtered by the fanatical Moslems – Do you suppose that is an improvement?
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