Posted on 03/08/2005 6:17:10 AM PST by prairiebreeze
SCARBOROUGH, Maine - The alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks was angered when he learned he had to undergo security screening between flights on the morning of the suicide attacks, a former U.S. Airways ticket agent says. Michael Tuohey of Scarborough said he was suspicious of Atta and Abdulaziz Alomari when they rushed through the Portland International Jetport to make their flight to Boston that day. Atta’s demeanor and the pair’s first-class, one-way tickets to Los Angeles made Tuohey think twice about them. “I said to myself, ’If this guy doesn’t look like an Arab terrorist, then nothing does.’ Then I gave myself a mental slap, because in this day and age, it’s not nice to say things like this,” Tuohey told the Maine Sunday Telegram. “You’ve checked in hundreds of Arabs and Hindus and Sikhs, and you’ve never done that. I felt kind of embarrassed.”
snip
Tuohey, 58, who retired last year, said he was speaking out because his exchange with Atta was included in recently declassified material that had not been included with the 9/11 Commission’s initial public report. His exchange was included in order to shed light on why Atta chose to fly to Boston from Portland.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
I saw this guy on the tube last night and my 'gut' response was STFU. What good does this do except to get him 15 min of exposure? Am I wrong?
My question would be, what is the value of this anyway?
I see this as a public confession, not self-aggrandizement. I think it took courage.
Exactly my feelings.
I agree with you.
It's about not listening to one's intuition. If he's been around asians a lot and not had that feeling before, but had with Atta there was a reason.
This is a hell of a time to come through with these revelations. It's goin on four years since the incident occurred.
Was it mentioned that the terrorists had FIRST CLASS tickets? I wonder why it is that those who fly economy class go through "more thorough" searches...
PC Kills!
My first reaction was STFU as well. Afterall, this guy admits that he looked at Atta and thought he was an "arab" terrorist. Thus, he engaged in racial profiling and has now admitted it. The ACLU should be suing him any minute now. /I wish it were sarcasm.
I hope this retired ticket agent sleeps well at night! He should have acted but was probably too damned lazy.
Yes, you're wrong.
The dead of 9-11 are political correctness's dead. And PC is STILL operative--fully--undimiminished--from the day the killers were let thru to today almost 4 years later.
Political considerations should NOT enter into the thoughts of security people doing their jobs. But such considerations presently RULE the thoughts of such people, in myriad ways, from the heads of the national and international security agencies to the cops on the beat in the towns and cities.
If they dare to think the "wrong" thing it may mean their job. So they don't. This guy didn't. Did he lose his job over it? Think about that. He had an idea that this Atta guy was trouble. He did nothing and the dead as a result are, what 3 some odd thousand just un the 9-11 attack alone?
Was he fired? Nope. Because in the end he made the "correct" conclusion and did the "correct" thing.
Let me see YOU do YOUR job that excrably and remain employed (and out of jail).
The ACLU had they been standiung over his shoulder watching him would have applauded him.
FWIW has ONE head rolled as a result of 9-11? And none ever will. PC in action.
Hopefully, other ticket agents, INS agents, police and ordinary citizens will listen to their gut when they run across people who look "not-quite-right."
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