Kelly Hu of the TV Series "Martial Law" (I am SOOOO Guilty --take me in!)
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.
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I'm not so sure I believe that's true. I have no doubt there are some (?many?) averted terrorist acts that we never hear about. Why? Giving the populace the specifics might blow leads as the bad guys scurry from light. Also, telling the general population that we'd watched through to it's conclusion a 'training run' would have serious economic impact on the airlines again - who knows what would happen in the stock market.
I certainly hope that economic reasons are not the only reasons we wouldn't divulge an averted attack, but who's to say that this episode didn't figure into the next day's vague announcement that they're up to something relatively soon.
Maybe I'm being naive, but I'm hoping the authorities do have many leads and are working them - I'm just not privy to that information.
It may have been a dry run. The next flight they take could be the real thing. Don't think it can't happen.
Could we have hidden cameras in the johns? Sounds reasonable to me.
It was featured on FR some months ago. Perhaps someone here could guide you to it.
The FAA said they will not act unless something has happened. That means who ever is on the plane is somehow harmed or dead.
I'm sure if you do a google search you can find out about this incident. By the way, it was a Boston to L.A. flight, not from NYC to L.A. Woods has family in MA, I believe.
Sorry for the delayed reply, I wasn't able to Freep until now... (forgive me if I didn't get EVERY detail absolutely correct, I typed that from memory)
The one truth in intelligence/law enforcement is that we rarely hear of successes. There are probably a lot of plots that have been disrupted but not disclosed.
The terrorists typically mingle wel with the population, especially after 9/11 a good terrorist is one that diskies himself in a good way. Otherwise, he will be in jail before he gets to do his dirty deed.
Yes, real men would have gone to the men's room and checked it out.
Kelly Hu of the TV Series "Martial Law" (I am SOOOO Guilty --take me in!)
If I found myself in that situation that is what I would have done. The story just drones and drones and it seems kind of fishy. If the Fight Attendent said the Captain was worried, he would have announced that all passengers need to return to their seats and fasten there belts due to possible severe turbulence. Then the alledeged Air Marshalls that were all over the plane could keep a watchful eye.
I'll be perfectly honest. I don't believe the story.
I'm with you - the story reads like Grisham thriller. It's really edited and spun to create drama, rather than a news story.
You make a good point, and on one hand I agree with you - it seems obvious that such behavior would be a dead giveaway. On the other hand, it seems that the reason we are able to catch some of the criminals is because they do stupid stuff.
And it's posted every 30 minutes.
But now you are gonna catch heck for not wringing your hands. The story reeks as a propaganda piece to me.
The arrest of the Syrian in Minneapolis was on 7th and he was flying on KLM.
My brother-in-law (Indian Muslim), two other Indian Muslims and an Irish man were all going to India on business. Guess which person was pulled aside and screened? You've got it. The Irish guy.
There were other non-Indian Muslims onboard the plane to India. My BIL and his friends were AFRAID! They said that they certainly should have been searched, and would not have minded it a bit.
What the heck is going on here?
Got your ping but your thread was pulled.
The un-official statement from the Middle Eastern passengers.
I am shocked that we were treated this way said band leader Benny Almuddin. We were simply 14 innocent musicians hired to play at the Palm Tree Dessert Inn and Casino outside of Las Vegas. What started as a simple practical joke between my musicians ended up being a very embarrassing and almost tragic event.
This whole thing all started at a last minute lunch stop before our flight at a Detroit McDonald's when one of the wind instrument players slipped some Ex-lax into the chocolate milkshake of percussionist Ali Shaheed, and then made a bet with the other band members how long into the flight poor Ali could last before ahhhhhh he ahhhhhhh had to run to the bathroom. The winner would receive an expensive new flute purchased at a New York shop, which is what was the object wrapped up in cloth. Then the joke was carried even further, way to far in my opinion, when cello player Kambiz, who had super glue hidden in a McDonalds bag, slipped into the nearest bathroom to Ali, and glued the toilet paper roll so it was impossible to unroll. The other band members thought it would be real funny to keep the only other bathroom busy throughout the flight.
I being the band leader sat in the front of the airplane in first class noticed the tom-foolery going on in the back and stood up and gave the members of the band a stern look, hoping they would sit back down and act like gentlemen. This is when Abdul the lead flutist motioned to the other band members to cut it out, with the motion of running his finger across his throat and mouthing No to the others.
That is what happened, I swear to Ala. I'm sorry if we caused any concern among the other passengers.
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