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 ...
Dearborn, MI is the largest single concentration of Arabs and Muslims in the US. Flying out of Detroit Metro is like living in Syria.. These people are dangerous, they're anti-American, and they would like nothing better than to evaporate you at 30,000 feet.
Oh yeah, they smell too! Nothing like being trapped in a middle seat between two swarthy guys who smell like putrid goat entrails! Talk about wanting to land as soon as possible!
...which drove her to such drastic actions as note passing and whispering. Serious indeed!
Yesterday, I sent the link to this article to Andrew Sullivan.
Today, he leads with it.
http://www.andrewsullivan.com/
< / bragging >
True, but we shouldn't expect the system to be foolproof. Had we done some of the more extreme suggestions posed in this thread, such as ban all arabs/muslims from flying, it wouldn't have stopped Vincente Padilla, John Lindh, (or perhaps even Richard Reed) from carrying out an attack.
Remember that the 2nd most devastating terrorist attack in U.S. history was carried out by a yokel in Oklahoma.
Given the history, I think that is a reasoned approach, and demonstrates intelligence, not fear.
I love to swim in the ocean. But when the fins are circling, I stay on the beach and drink beer.
I carry a concealed 45 automatic with 10 in the clip and 1 in the chamber, plus 2 spare clips, and 100 rounds in the glovebox of my truck. I have a permit. When I fly I cannot carry. I therefore avoid flying unless it is a real big deal. But if I boarded a plane with 3-5 even remotely looking Arabs on board. I would unboard and catch another flight. I have done this 3 different times over the past 25 years all three times were before 9/11. I used to fly 2 to 6 times a week. I changed careers in the mid nineties and fly only once or twice a year now. Arabs have been hijacking airplanes for a long time and hating America even longer.
Yes, I thought of it. It sounds to me as if things were probably handled as they should have been. Also, it might be easier to cause a failure of this type of plan than I initially thought, because it would require the disruption of only one of the necessary components. If that is accomplished, then the situation is back in the hands of the marshalls and passengers.
Yes, I thought of it. It sounds to me as if things were probably handled as they should have been. Also, it might be easier to cause a failure of this type of plan than I initially thought, because it would require the disruption of only one of the necessary components. If that is accomplished, then the situation is back in the hands of the marshalls and passengers.
A MacDonalds bag full of calcium carbide and a few gallons of water will make several hundred cubic feet of acetylene gas in minutes...
Stopping every attack may or may not be possible, but it is a worthy and necessary goal.
Am I the only one that would have gotten on line to use the men's room?
The first thing I can think of is to mess up their plan by planting myself in their midst, and using their lavatory of choice.
Who was it that said "keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer."?
WOW! No, I haven't. Just read the whole thing.
That could be true, but then, that could also explain why the 14 men--they might have been trying to do the same thing in two different lavatories.
By the way, I don't know if anyone has mentioned it or not, but Michelle Malkin has called the AirMarshalls and they have verified the basic outline of the story.
At a minimum 14 people with Syrian passports and one way tickets were able to board a plane together. That alone--even without the rest of the story--is chilling.
I would ask Northwest Airlines why their flight crew did not follow TSA directions and order the Syrian "musicians" to take their seats.
https://www.nwa.com/talk/ttu.html
Is it possible that this was a test by our authorities to test the reaction of the flight crew and passengers to a possible terrorist situation?
"Yesterday, I sent the link to this article to Andrew Sullivan.
Today, he leads with it. "
Good job!!!
The really scary thing is that this was a Syrian Polka band.
You are right but a lot more people will have to die before this is done. We must be PC.
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