[khnyny]

"Why would the news media be interested in covering this up though? You would think any security failure within the US would be seen as a major failure of the Bush admin., and thereby be something the media would want to shout about."

There are several possibilities as to why the MSM would do a cover-up. National security, the CIA, FBI saying "don't talk about it", blah, blah. But, IMHO the MSM has competing, but disparate interests. Namely, political agenda and money, which have to be weighed with each "news" event. News of missile attacks against civilian airliners would devastate air travel, affecting the airlines and the stock market - and not just airline stocks, but the stock market across the board. Corporations can and do dictate what becomes "newsworthy". Also, airlines and affiliate companies advertise, advertise, advertise, which is where the MSM gets most of their revenue. Oh, and let's not forget the lobbying groups which have great financial and political pull.

Most of the BS Bush bashing done in the MSM doesn't affect the MSM bottom line or the bottom line of corporate America. Ever wonder why all the "news" shows do stupid BS exposes which are just sensationalized nonsense and don't really expose anything? It's the "pulp fiction" for the masses. I mean, they might get sued (gasp). Look what happened to Oprah when she stepped on the wrong toes.

[khnyny]

A shoulder to air missile being fired at an airliner is not out of the realm of possibility and IMHO, will happen if it hasn't already happened.

Why do you think the airlines are looking at the anti-missile technology?? Wake up people. It's very expensive, and so far the failing airline industry has been loath to implement such technology.