[onedoug]

I suspect the lady was just spooked. But who in God’s name can blame her?

[FatherofFive]

"It is one thing to flag suspicious behavior, but to flag a global language? We are deplaning people for who they are, not what they do," Rehab said.

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 who spoke Arabic.

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 who spoke Arabic.

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 overfrom the train thing

(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 who spoke Arabic.

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 who spoke Arabic.

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 who spoke Arabic

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 extremist between the ages of 17 and 40 who spoke Arabic

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 who spoke Arabic.

On 7/7/05, four bombs were detonated on London's tube and bus system by:

(a) Paris Hilton fans

(b) Brittany Spears fans

(c) Regis Philbin

(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 who spoke Arabic.

On 7/21/05, four bombs that failed to fully detonate on London's tube and bus sytem were set off by:

(a) Wiley Coyote

(b) Gerry Adams

(c) John Kerry

(d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 who spoke Arabic.

Na- no patterns here!

[Redcloak]

Why did they hold up the entire plane and make everyone late? Grab Ahab the Arab, haul him off the plane, ship his butt to Gitmo for questioning, and let the rest of the passengers go along their merry way. If it turns out that Ahab wasn’t suffering from SJS, then he gets a free lesson in learning to speak English. No harm, no foul.

[John123]

"It is one thing to flag suspicious behavior, but to flag a global language?

Tough love man...

Life sucks and then you die.

[BuffaloJack]

God has given each one of us the desire for self-preservation. Part of that gift involves distrusting people who are different. People who are different are assumed to be a threat until some other action resolves the issue. The ability to profile is something we are born with. It is liberals and an environment of political correctness that wants us to ignore what god has told us to beware of.

The actions of the woman to provide the safest environment for her child were perfectly correct.

[thefactor]

this is silly. people from other countries have different mannerisms. our everyday gestures might seem to be suspicious to others.

but what's the answer? search these guys more thoroughly?

were they sitting together? if they were sitting apart that might raise my suspicion a bit more. and if they were hired by the american gov't, some US representative should have been escorting these guys! DUH! don't they realize the current situation in this country?

[Publius6961]

The Associated Press reported Defense Training Systems had hired the men to train U.S. Marines at Camp Pendleton in California.

Gratuitous, irrelevant, non-sequitur statement. How many muslims have been "hired" both in the U.S. and in foreign battle zones who have turned out to be, without question, enemy agents?

I would have been much more satisfied with statement as to what their religion is and what is their country of allegiance (other than the umma, of course, which the normal ignorant American knows nothing about).

Survival is ultimately a personal obligation. It recognizes neither "political correctness" nor State Department double talk nor "racism".

If for example, these people were escorted the entire tme that they are in the US or, better yet, not allowed into the US under any circumstances (the American "students" can travel out), then we wouldn't be having this conversation.

[gracesdad]

After we pass that Constitutional amendment outlawing Islam and forcing every Muslim out of the country, we need another amendment fobidding anybody from ever speaking anything other than English in the U.S. And that includes those pesky Cuban refugees. You want to get away from them commies in Cuba, you’d better learn English first!!!! /s

[freekitty]

I don’t blame her a bit. I wouldn’t want to go on that plane either.

[OESY]

The Associated Press reported Defense Training Systems had hired the men to train U.S. Marines at Camp Pendleton in California.

This is getting silly. There is a world of difference between these men speaking Arabic and the behavior of the Imans in Minneapolis. They were probably hired to teach our Marines the language and nuances of their country to which the Marines may be assigned and they probably had security clearances and passes evidencing background checks, not that the woman would have known this. She did the right thing to speak up, but let's not overreact. The airline did the right thing, upon evaluation, not to detain them. After all, most of us who visit foreign countries are not fluent in the local languages, so we speak English.

As Winston Churchill said, "There is only one thing worse
than fighting with Allies and that is fighting without them."

.

[TChris]

"It is one thing to flag suspicious behavior, but to flag a global language? We are deplaning people for who they are, not what they do," Rehab said.

Hmm... I always considered the language people speak to be a "behavior", not a definitive matter of "who they are".

Do I become a different person if I speak Spanish?

[asparagus]

I’d be happy with a nationwide ban on middle eastern travelers from Sept 1 to Sep 15, given a date is approaching with extra special meaning. Need to travel? Go Greyhound.

[Lazamataz]

Ahmed Rehab, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations

Rehab, you need rehab.

[Minutemen]

To the woman who complained: Good job! Better safe than sorry.
The religion of peaceniks should be banned from flying in groups larger than 2’s.

[LachlanMinnesota]

The issue is what was the suspicious behavior...
Language alone is not enough unless you hear something that you understand and it indicates suspicious conduct or intent.

[Polybius]

Arabic Spoken? Plane Grounded.

BIASED JOURNALISM HEADLINE 101:

1.) Ignore the "had odd behavior" aspect of the story and stress "Arabic spoken" in your headline. Play the Xenophobia Card with the first two words.

2.) Use the word "gripe" in the subheadline to convince your readers that the passanger's concerns had no possible merit. Ensure that your readers get an immediate impression about who was right and who was wrong in your opinion.

3.) Remember that "What-Where-When-How" is obsolete journalism. Journalism now is all about pushing a political agenda.

4.) Push. Push. Push.

5.) If you heed Steps 1 through 4, you can succeed in creating a climate where other passengers will be intimidated into not reporting suspicious behavior in the future, no matter what language is spoken.

[dooltotheend]

A little caution beats dead any day in my book.

Someone posted the arabic speaking gentlemen were on their way to train Marines at Camp Pendleton, CA. Let’s assume these were reasonably intelligent Iraqi-Americans. If so, why—given the times we are living in—would these people call attention to themselves by speaking in Arabic?

Hey, life isn’t fair. In any case, by blending in they would have avoiding the inconvenience and embarrassment of returning to the gate. You know the old saw—”when in Rome do as the Romans do”. Why is that so difficult?

Does anybody remember back in the 60s and 70s when Europeans belittled Americans for being loud, obnoxious and not making an attempt to learn the local language. In fact, there was a book written about it titled “The Ugly American”.

[gathersnomoss]

Are there pictures of the towelheads?

[Equality 7-2521]

Perhaps if the woman had heard this Arabic in the boarding area she should have decided not to board the plane in the first place instead of boarding and then deciding she wanted back off. Nice job inconveniencing so many travelers, lady.

[gondramB]

>>The woman first complained to the flight crew that four to seven men were possibly speaking Arabic in the boarding area. The woman added that they “had odd behavior.” The crew decided to return to the boarding area because the woman indicated she wanted off the plane.<<

Its hard to evaluate this without knowing what the “odd” behavior was.