Posted on 01/15/2005 3:34:16 AM PST by Stoat
A MYSTERY IN THE SKIES
By Michelle Malkin · January 14, 2005 10:58 PM
Physician blogger Dr. Bob says one of his patients, a federal air marshal, told him about a foiled hijacking involving boxcutters hidden in overhead luggage bins:
He and his partner were assigned to a flight (the airline, airport, and destination were not disclosed) in their customary undercover security role. They boarded the airplane early in order to meet the flight attendants, at which time the cleaning crew was still on the airplane -- somewhat longer than expected. My patient and his partner sat together in seats near the middle of coach class.
It's hard to imagine, in a post-9/11 world, that terrorists would attempt another attack with box cutters. Also, Dr. Bob's patient did not disclose specifics--airport, airline, destination, etc.--that would facilitate confirmation. If anyone can provide more information, drop me a line. Whether or not the story is true, it highlights at least two important policy questions: 1. What kind of security measures are being undertaken with regard to clean-up crews and other ground personnel with access to airplanes? 2. Why does FAMS director Tom Quinn continue to enforce idiotic pre-boarding policies that expose marshals' identities to observant passengers? Update: The idea that terrorist operatives might be trying to smuggle razor blades as weapons onto planes is not pure fantasy. Last April, Pakistani illegal alien Fazal Karim was convicted on charges of carrying and attempting to carry concealed dangerous weapons in air transportation and of making false statements about his immigration status. Security officials at Dallas/Ft. Worth airport found 32 double-edged razor blades tucked in a coiled belt inside a cardboard box in Fazal Karim's carry-on luggage.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Schattman argued that Karim carried out a test run to aid terrorism. The Ft. Worth Star Telegram reported that security officers first noticed that Karim appeared to distance himself from his carry-on bag. After placing the bag on the conveyor belt leading to an X-ray machine, Karim did not walk through the adjacent magnetometer but selected one farther away. He offered FBI agents three different explanations for the blades, Schattman said. First, Karim said he used the blades to shave the bottom of his full beard. Then he said they were for a friend in Houston. Finally, he said he did not know the blades were in the bag. More: At a hearing in November, a federal agent testified that the names and phone numbers of the current directors of the civil aviation systems in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates were found in Karim's address book _ 10 years after he worked as a computer programmer for the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority.
In addition, I've found at least one other mention of a flight crew member discovering razor blades in blankets. Weird. Scary weird. Update II: Reader Eric makes some additional, on-target points... For me at least, there is another lesson in this story. |
Amen!
Whether it's called "racial profiling, criminal profiling, or behavioral profiling" it's a valuable tool in fighting crime...that's why so many leftist loonies are so much against it.....it works!
There are a few people at this site who are enraged if you don't agree and then throw out the infamous DU label. And notice they didn't read the article and realize that the author herself questioned whether the story was true or not.
"Arm the pilots, arm the cabin crew, arm law-abiding citizens. I will be the first in line to buy tickets on such an airline."
Oh God. I'm so going to get shot to death the next time I sneeze in a plane. Does anyone have a Greyhound ticket I can borrow?
I knew a Ricky, and these days who knows?
Yes, I did read that excerpt... I am not saying that razor blades haven't been found and I'm not saying that they won't injure when used as a weapon, what I am saying is that the passengers are going to fight to the finish THIS TIME (in otherwords; the terrorists are bringing a knife to a gun fight).
I realize that isn't the guist of your post...
Is testing by America's enemies, of our aviation security systems/operations underway ? Likely...
Is the blog/blogger a bearer of truth... ah... honestly, I don't know.
Why this is being shown as a positive reflects an effort of the media to polish the failures of the TSA...once again.
"Once the cavity search yielded them nothing..."
God, I'm never going to stop hearing about that one.
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The last time I checked, sneezing hasn't been linked to being an Islamofascist intent on slicing a stewardess' throat and flying planes into buildings. Don't worry...legally armed citizens are usually among the nicest and most law-abiding folks that you might care to meet, and they take the responsibilities of gun ownership extremely seriously.
As to Greyhound, please consider that on a bus you are also dealing with a closed, metal container with people who are going to be screened far more loosely than airline passengers, which, like an airplane you can also not escape from when it's in motion. Furthermore, you have only ONE driver and no stewardesses. The bus driver is also NOT behind a solid door and is easily available for victimization....which happens frequently.
It seems to me that a bus would be a far easier hijacking target than an airplane....it also is far easier to drive.
As for myself, I prefer the freedom and grandeur of the Great American Highway. Any Islamofascist carjacker (or any other sort) will be dealt with swiftly and decisively. :-)
They didn't read the article??? Who is "they". That, my friend, is gossip... and inflammatory.
I normally do not refer others to DU (I have only visited one time, and decided it was too fruity, for me...), but in your case...
I responded to the post, which I read as mocking a serious problem, and poo-pooing the articles writer. What's your purpose?
Why this is being shown as a positive reflects an effort of the media to polish the failures of the TSA...once again.
Sorry? No need for that...I agree completely.
Yes. Dr. Bob (Rowlf), Nurse Piggy, and Nurse Janice were all Muppets staffing the Sesame Street Veterinarian's Hospital.
Color me "skeptical". Maybe "Dr. Bob" here is a psychiatrist. Or a patient.
Excellent distinction and one which everyone should keep in mind when the inevitable critics of sensible security procedures emerge with their shouts of "Racism".
As Michelle Malkin herself points out in the story, she isn't claiming it to be definitively true but it's entirely plausible, has substantiated precedent and is sourced FAR better than many that have graced the front pages of the New York Times. She's merely putting the information out there and asking for corroboration, which is something that many other 'reporters' don't seem terribly interested in doing.
I only view it as something worth reading and considering. If I run across another well-sourced article debunking this one then I'll post it in this thread as well.
Here's what I find most suspicious (in addition to the vaguely familiar ring): Dr. Bob leaves out details like the date, airport, airline, and flight, apparently to protect the identity of his source, who is supposedly an air marshal assigned to that flight. I suspect, however, that if the incident is true, it is not a routine occurrence and therefore, TSA would need about thirty seconds to identify the blabbermouth. I also note that Ms. Malkin wrote about the incident not in her syndicated column, but in her own blog, which suggests to me that she has a healthy degree of skepticism.
BTW, I've been a member of FR almost as long as you, and I have thousands of posts to prove that I belong here, so please don't accuse me of being a DU sympathizer just because I disagree with you.
So whatever happened to those five? We need to know the rest of the story.
Bump
Yeah, but at least people don't get sucked out of the window if a bullet pierces a Greyhound window
Oh wait, I was thinking of a James Bond movie.
Anyway, I'm pretty much against anyone but an air marshall having guns on a plane. I mean, hell, everyone's already dealing with fearing terrorists/crappy peanuts/crying babies/smelly toilets/coffee nerves on the flight. It'd be mere seconds before someone got killed for putting their seat too far back. Heh.
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