Bus Crash: "The man...had a Middle Eastern accent"

The Tennessean ^ | October 2, 2001 | Sue McClure

[Dirk McQuickly]

MANCHESTER, Tenn.

[Beep]

I am shocked, and praying for all the victims of this horrible attack! I do desperately hope that a faction of Bin Laden's clan is not involved in this; it's way too close to home for comfort. The conflicting reports are also unsettling. WSMV-TV, here in Nashville, just aired a live press conference with Governor Sundquist and the director of TBI, etc. The national reports and the local reports are definitely at odds with each other. That doesn't do much for my peace of mind, for Nashville or for the safety of Grayhound passengers everywhere. There is no law, state or federal, that requires a manifest of bus passengers, and that is just an ignorant oversight -- especally now -- IMHO.

Oh crap -- our local emergency alert is going off again right now! Will report if it is anything pertaining to Grayhound or terrorist activity. Please pray for the victims in Manchester, all Grayhound passengers, and this country?!

Thank you!

God bless,
Beep
Nashville, TN

[Dirk McQuickly]

The doctor quotes the bus driver and the major news outlets will not report that the perpetrator had a Middle Eastern accent. What is going on?

[JRadcliffe]

"Oh and he's dead ."

or is he alive?

[CheneyChick]

This would be a ~huge~ news story on ~any~ day, terrorism angle completely aside. But it has practically disappeared from the media.

Am in total agreement here....

[gumbo]

Update : The guy had a Croatian passport

Croation passport; but was he Croatian?

Have heard reports mid-Eastern terrorist cells had sent operatives into Bosnia/Croatia.

[Loopy]

Incompetence would imply that they haven't the ability to determine the truth.

I would humbly suggest that you are being deliberately lied to about this and about what we are going to do in response to the 911 outrage.

[AmericanCheeseFood]

Dead .

[Hugh Akston]

The national reports and the local reports are definitely at odds with each other.

Can you summarize the differences?

[luvzhottea]

Militants seeking independence for Croatia have struck inside the U.S. in the past. In December 1975 Croatian nationalists were suspected of planting a bomb in a luggage locker at La Guardia Airport, killing 11 people and injuring 75. Less than a year later, Croats hijacked a TWA jet traveling from New York City to Chicago and eventually diverted it to Paris. As part of that operation, the group also planted a bomb at Grand Central Terminal, which killed a police officer who tried to defuse it. In June 1980 Croatian "freedom fighters" detonated a bomb inside the museum at the Statue of Liberty, but no one was injured. All told, Croats committed more than 20 acts of terror in the U.S. from 1976 through 1980.

Time Magazine March 8, 1993 Who Could Have Done It BY PRISCILLA PAINTON

[norraad]

"..& should be shot on site...

Don't worry, it won't be long now.

[CheneyChick]

The doctor quotes the bus driver and the major news outlets will not report that the perpetrator had a Middle Eastern accent. What is going on?

They want to suppress any racial attacks and any random hate crimes that could be unleased due to this incident. Run along now, nothing to see.....

[rbmillerjr]

Somebody was on the scene very quickly to hush the initial reports of the Middleastern accent.

American, wake up, this is your life now...we are indeed at war. Bush needs to make one last shot a getting the moderate Arab countries and then,,,,,move on and crush the terror camps and Taleban. The longer we wait - the weaker we look. And this ridiculous decision to come out with a "we support a Palestinian state" was the most absured policy announcement ive seen since we tied our hands in Vietnam.

[justshutupandtakeit]

You are dreaming. This guy made no overtly threatening move until he cut the driver so who would have been ready or able to shoot him.

It does not help the pro 2d position to try and force everything into an ideological box particularly when it doesn't fit at all. This merely makes pro 2d people look like nutcases.

Besides how much easier would it have been for the guy just to shoot the driver?

[AmericanCheeseFood]

AHHAHAHAHH!

Suspect 1, a FReeper .

We're gonna all be profiled from now on !!

Cheese .

[Beep]

Hey! That is extremely incalled for. If you have ever been to Nashville, you would know we "is not all walkin' barefoot and munchin' on chitlins." Where in the world is your sense of respect for the victims of this tragedy? If your only response to this is to make regional misconception jokes, perhaps you should take thyself to Oz and ask the Wizard for a heart! Sheesh! (FWIW -- I'm originally from Illinois, and many Nashvillians are "transplants," so you are entirely off-base, and your comments were completely tasteless.") An apology would be appreciated. Thank you.

God bless,
Beep
Nashville, TN

[justshutupandtakeit]

This has been my worry as well.

[StriperSniper]

temporarily suspended all its bus passenger service nationwide in the wake of the wreck, the AP said, but buses that were on the road were allowed to travel on to their destinations before stopping.

Why do one without the other? If the perp was asking for the time to coordinate this with other attacks (speculation), would not the most prudent thing to do be stop the busses on the road?