Posted on 04/30/2005 7:31:46 PM PDT by wjersey
A secret federal investigation has been launched into alarming events on a now-infamous domestic flight last June when a group of passengers claimed that some Syrians were conducting a dry run for a terror attack or hijacking.
Annie Jacobsen, who first came forward with details of disturbing behaviour by the 14 Syrians on Northwest Flight 327, from Detroit to Los Angeles, has been interviewed about events on the flight by four officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). They flew from Chicago to Los Angeles to talk to her, she said last week, even though she was three days from giving birth to her second son.
The revelation that the DHS is conducting a lengthy and expensive inquiry has raised fresh doubts about the insistence of federal authorities that there was no threat to the flight.
As The Telegraph reported last July, fellow passengers became increasingly intimidated by the Syrians' behaviour and demeanour on the Northwest flight. The men stood up and congregated near the lavatories, filing in and out consecutively, and carrying in a bag and a package and mobile phones. Near the end of the journey, Ms Jacobsen saw the group's leader draw a finger across his throat and indicate "no" to the others.
Officially, the DHS, federal air marshals and FBI acknowledge that the Syrians, apparently musicians on their way to a concert, behaved "bizarrely" but say they were not a security threat.
A DHS spokesman said that the inspector-general's office was simply holding an "internal audit" into how federal air authorities investigated passengers' concerns.
Yet the agents who questioned Ms Jacobsen and her husband, Kevin, who was also a passenger, spent more than three hours of the four-and-a-half-hour interview asking them in great detail about the Syrians' actions.
Ms Jacobsen told The Telegraph that they spent far less time on the official subject of their inquiries - her dealings with the air marshal service and other federal authorities.
"I don't buy for a second that the DHS has spent nine months flying federal agents around the country to investigate a non-event. They have interviewed passengers, flight attendants and air marshals," she said.
"They have misrepresented the situation from the word go, so it's no surprise that they're not changing their modus operandi now." She said the inspectors also disclosed a series of alarming details during the interview. These included that a month before the September 11 attacks, Mohamed Atta, the leader of the hijackers, was on board a flight with the actor, James Woods.
At the time, Mr Woods reported the suspicious behaviour of four Arabs who shared his first-class cabin as they conducted what may have been a trial run for the worst terror attack on US soil, but his concerns were not pursued.
The DHS inspectors told Ms Jacobsen that only two of the 14 musicians were questioned after her flight, that the federal air marshals did not notice that their visas had expired and that the men had been criss-crossing the country on one-way tickets bought with cash.
"I found it absolutely shocking and chilling to learn this now," said Ms Jacobsen, a freelance writer who contributes to the website womenswallstreet.com.
"I have had a lot of calls from air marshals and pilots saying that this was not a one-off incident and that they are angry that these serious problems are not being addressed. I feel this is a vindication after I was told I 'over-reacted' at the time."
She believes that the DHS inspectors shared her concerns. She said that as they left, one shook her hand and said: "Thank you for writing those articles." The most senior investigator said: "As a fellow American, I can say you did your duty." A third one, she said, quoted from her original article, saying: "If 19 terrorists can learn to fly airplanes into buildings, couldn't 14 terrorists learn to play instruments?"
A spokesman for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that the men's stories tallied and that they had applied for extensions to their visas so were in the country legitimately.
"The men's identities were confirmed," he said. "There was no intelligence to support the theory of a dry run. The behaviour may have been bizarre, but it had no national security implications."
Ms Jacobsen's original revelations touched on American's fears after the September 11 attacks and prompted a heated debate about the impact of political correctness on national security. It emerged that the authorities were wary of targeting passengers of Arab appearance for extra checks in case they were accused of racism.
I remember this story. The MSM buried it. Of course they also buried Oklahoma City and TWA 800.
That is new information. We knew that Woods had seen some of the hijackers doing a dry run for 9/11 in August, but the identities had never been revealed before.
Interesting turn of events since the govt officials initially made the lady out to be a troublemaker when she tried to bring attention to the incident.
Whay turn of events. The source "Ms Jacobsen told The Telegraph" is same panic girl it's been all along.
This is something that must be dealt with. I would offer two areas for this. (ONE). The spiteful cruelty of these individuals to intimidate and frighten decent American citizens. This as a "joke". This,while they enjoy American hospitality.(TWO) Less likely, but still possible,a means of lulling officials into the idea ,that it may be just a false alarm. Repeat this and the guard comes down.
A good woman had overheard Middle East types in a restaurant about two years ago. They were "joking" about terrorism. They were "students" on proper visas. She phoned police and she got the short end of the stick. The police closed off the highway etc. When they discovered these cruel fools were "only joking" - the woman got ridiculed.
I now have respect for this guy James Woods.
Is there no justice?
That James Wood flight originated in Detroit. Wonder what the 9/11 boys were doing in Detroit? Hopefully the FBI is looking into what they did while there...who was their host...etc.
The turn of events I was referring to was that they finally decide to investigate -- a year late.
When Ms Jacobsen was trying to get their attention, they chose, seemingly, to ignore her complaint and label her as a troublemaker.
Now, a year later, they seem to be, secretly, investigating the incident.
Snopes can take a powder on this one. They weren't there. Furthermore, if Snopes is so sure, next time, Snopes writers can "go first."
I don't think Annie Jacobsen was all there either
ping
Agreed. I'll believe Annie. It was either a dry run, to test security, uncover air marshalls or guage how passengers would react, or it was a bunch of a##holes playing a "joke".
A joke, sorta like sneaking up behind a stranger in a right to carry state on a dark night at remote atm and sticking your finger in his back and saying in your most menacing voice "Give it up!"
Terrorist/Profiling Multiple Choice Test
The screaming has started and it is about the racial profiling of terrorists. Factions of Muslim's are up in arms, so the United States is once again caving in to the Liberal Faction and the ACLU.Airport screeners are being told not to single out certain types of people, so I give you this:
Pause a moment and take the following test:
In 1979, the U.S. embassy in Iran was taken over by:
(a) Norwegians from Ballard;
(b) Elvis;
(c) A tour bus full of 80-year-old women
(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
In 1983, the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by:
(a) A pizza delivery boy;
(b) Crazed feminists screeching that being able to throw a grenade
beyond its own burst radius was an unfair and sexist requirement
in basic training;
(c) Geraldo Rivera making up for a slow news day
(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by:
(a) Luca Brazzi, for not being given a part in "Godfather 2;"
(b) The Tooth Fairy;
(c) Butch and Sundance who had a few sticks of dynamite left over
from the train thing
(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
In 1998, the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed by:
(a) Mr. Rogers;
(b) Hillary, to distract attention from Wee Willie's women problems;
(c) the WWF, to promote its next villain: "Mustapha the Merciless;"
(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
October 12, 2000, 17 US sailors lost their lives on the USS Cole and this was done by:
a) That Purple Teletubbie
b) Gary Condit
c) LA Crips street gang
d) Muslim extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
December 2000 a person tries to light a shoe bomb on a commercial jetliner and this was done by:
a) Mother Theresa
b) an Italian guy from New York City named "Giacomo"
c) hard working Hispanic farm workers
d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40
On 9/11/01, four airliners were hijacked and destroyed by:
(a) Bugs Bunny,
(b) the Supreme Court of Florida trying to outdo their attempted
hijacking of the 2000 Presidential election;
(c) Mr. Bean
(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.
Can I have "D" for three thousand, Alex?
I have read her articles and I believe Ms. Jacobsen.
It was some jerk offs from an Arab music group playing with the minds of the passengers. I doubt there was a threat. James Woods saw the real thing. The casing of the airplane.
James Woods took a flight from Boston to Los Angeles one week before the World Trade Center attack
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