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Ticket agent recalls anger in Atta's eyes
msnbc.com ^ | March 7, 2005 | AP

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 ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; US: Maine
KEYWORDS: 911; 911hijackers; airport; atta; mohammedatta; politicalcorrect; terrorist; tuohey
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Too bad the guy didn't listen to his gut. Political correctness doesn't want us listening to our gut or using common sense though.
1 posted on 03/08/2005 6:17:11 AM PST by prairiebreeze
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To: prairiebreeze

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?


2 posted on 03/08/2005 6:24:53 AM PST by drt1
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To: drt1

My question would be, what is the value of this anyway?


3 posted on 03/08/2005 6:29:52 AM PST by marvlus
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To: drt1

I see this as a public confession, not self-aggrandizement. I think it took courage.


4 posted on 03/08/2005 6:32:11 AM PST by wtc911 ("I would like at least to know his name.")
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To: marvlus
My question would be, what is the value of this anyway?

If this served to drive a stake through the heart of this PC silliness I would want him on TV and radio every day.
5 posted on 03/08/2005 6:32:20 AM PST by speed_addiction (Ninja's last words, "Hey guys. Watch me just flip out on that big dude over there!")
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To: marvlus
"My question would be, what is the value of this anyway?"

Exactly my feelings.

6 posted on 03/08/2005 6:35:29 AM PST by drt1
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To: wtc911

I agree with you.


7 posted on 03/08/2005 6:37:57 AM PST by cyborg (http://mentalmumblings.blogspot.com/)
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To: speed_addiction

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.


8 posted on 03/08/2005 6:39:02 AM PST by cyborg (http://mentalmumblings.blogspot.com/)
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To: cyborg
It's about not listening to one's intuition.

A friend of mine was a member of SEAL Team One in Vietnam. He told me that they had gone out on several missions and made it back without incident (ie anyone of theirs getting hit) but on one mission, everything felt wrong when they got to where their mission was to be executed. He said there was nothing out of the ordinary, nothing he could point to that was out of place, it just did not feel right. Turned out they walked into an ambush and the team took a major hit. From then on, if their gut told them it was not right, they would bail on a mission. There is taking chances, he said, and then there is suicide. There is a lot to be said for intuition.
9 posted on 03/08/2005 6:47:21 AM PST by speed_addiction (Ninja's last words, "Hey guys. Watch me just flip out on that big dude over there!")
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To: prairiebreeze
DUH!

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...

10 posted on 03/08/2005 6:51:15 AM PST by Sarajevo (Sarajevo is the beginning of 20th century history.)
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To: prairiebreeze
The headline should be:

PC Kills!

11 posted on 03/08/2005 6:54:01 AM PST by EternalVigilance (Freedom. Brought to you by the grace of God and the Red, White and Blue...)
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To: drt1

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.


12 posted on 03/08/2005 7:05:52 AM PST by FlipWilson
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To: prairiebreeze
Some perspective on the results of this fatal PC stupidity:


13 posted on 03/08/2005 7:12:19 AM PST by EternalVigilance (Freedom. Brought to you by the grace of God and the Red, White and Blue...)
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To: prairiebreeze

14 posted on 03/08/2005 7:14:01 AM PST by EternalVigilance (Freedom. Brought to you by the grace of God and the Red, White and Blue...)
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To: prairiebreeze

15 posted on 03/08/2005 7:15:29 AM PST by EternalVigilance (Freedom. Brought to you by the grace of God and the Red, White and Blue...)
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To: prairiebreeze

16 posted on 03/08/2005 7:16:20 AM PST by EternalVigilance (Freedom. Brought to you by the grace of God and the Red, White and Blue...)
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To: prairiebreeze

17 posted on 03/08/2005 7:17:01 AM PST by EternalVigilance (Freedom. Brought to you by the grace of God and the Red, White and Blue...)
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To: prairiebreeze
... ’If this guy doesn’t look like an Arab terrorist, then nothing does.’

I hope this retired ticket agent sleeps well at night! He should have acted but was probably too damned lazy.

18 posted on 03/08/2005 7:20:41 AM PST by JesseHousman (Execute Mumia Abu-Jamal Today)
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To: drt1

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.


19 posted on 03/08/2005 7:23:01 AM PST by TalBlack
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To: marvlus

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."


20 posted on 03/08/2005 7:27:15 AM PST by rabidralph (Nothing to see here, move along.)
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