The Cunning Passageways of TWA Flight 800: An Unauthorized History

New English Review ^ | July 1, 2010 A.D. | Christopher S. Carson

[jfd1776]

Six months ago, authorities seized a cargo plane in Bangkok that contained 35 tons of North Korean military weapons. These included versions of the Chinese HN-5 “man-portable air defense system,” or MANPADS. The MANPADS were being shipped to Iran. The HN-5 — a copy of the Soviet SA-7— is less capable than the MANPADS Iran produces on its own.

Why, you ask, would Iran be importing more primitive missiles than the ones it already makes? The only conceivable answer is that Iran was planning to provide North Korean missiles to Iran’s proxy terrorist groups, to gain plausible deniability in case the missiles were ever used or grabbed.

In other words, Iran is now in the business of fronting MANPADS from a variety of sources to Hezbollah, the Islamic Courts Union of Somalia, al Shabaab, the Taliban, and apparently al Qaeda.

The cache of North Korean MANPADS bound for Iran is surely an omninous sign for air travelers everywhere. We know that since 1973, 30 civilian aircraft have been downed and about 920 civilians killed by MANPADS. These weapons are cheap and comparatively small. For years, intelligence officials have described them as so easy to use that firing a Stinger is compared with operating a point-and-shoot camera. And the bang they provide is priceless. One particular story comes to mind and haunts my dreams.

July 17th is the 14-year anniversary of the tragic crash of TWA Flight 800 off the coast of Long Island, New York, which caused the deaths of 230 men, women and children. This essay is a cautionary tale-- a story of a brief period in American history when America was, as now, beset by a host of enemies from the Islamic world.

...continue reading in The New English Review

[this is my country]

Bump to finish article. It’s all coming back to me. Fascinating!

[okie01]

Right after 9-11, George Stephanopolis was naming the acts of terrorism, and he included TWA flight 800. Odd expressions came over every ones faces, and they cut to a commercial.

J. Effin' Kerry did the same on a Sunday show in the run-up to the 2004 race.

I took it as a pointed message to the Clintons to stay the hell out of his way...

[PhilDragoo]

Yeah, and at the time Rush was hyping Kalstrom, what a noble guy Kalstrom was.

Clinton was bad; Carter was bad; FDR was bad. Obama is probably worse than all combined.

[potlatch]

{Yeah, and at the time Rush was hyping Kalstrom, what a noble guy Kalstrom was.}

“RUSH: Jim Kallstrom from the Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation, a good friend of mine, former head of the New York FBI office. “

Couldn’t recall who Kallstrom was, still don’t know what he ‘did’....

Obama is the pits, he scares me more than US politician I’ve ever known of.

[PhilDragoo]

On November 18, 1997, FBI Assistant Director James Kallstrom announced the results of the FBI investigation into the explosion of TWA Flight 800. More than sixteen months after the tragedy, Kallstrom labeled the case as “inactive”, reporting that:

We must now report that no evidence has been found which would indicate that a criminal act was the cause…we turned over every stone, not once but 10 times.

The Consequences of Secrecy and Interagency Conflict: Undermining the Official Investigation intoTWA Flight 800

[potlatch]

Thanks Phil, Kallstrom was just another “cover-up-er”. I’m always amazed how some of you manage to recall all these names and details.

They turned over every stone - and ignored the slime beneath them.