Posted on 10/16/2001 6:58:44 PM PDT by concerned about politics
Syrians flood flight schools
14 enter at Dallas/Fort Worth; INS gives passport info to FBI
WASHINGTON – In just the past two days, 14 Syrian men entered the U.S. through Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on student visas to attend flight schools at Fort Worth Meacham International Airport, WorldNetDaily has learned exclusively.
The State Department lists Syria as a state sponsor of terrorism.
The Syrian men, whose M-1 visas expire April 2002, flew in from London aboard two British Airways flights, with one group of seven arriving Sunday and the rest on Monday – the day before the Federal Aviation Administration lifted its post-attack ban on novice pilots flying private planes solo in airspace around major metropolitan areas.
"Seems that they knew the private plane ban was going to be lifted today," said an Immigration and Naturalization Service inspector at DFW.
After the second wave of Syrians deplaned, INS inspectors called the FBI, which asked inspectors to photocopy their passports and other papers, according to the INS source.
The men, all clean-shaven and in their early 30s, were not detained, however, and the FBI did not interview them – although agents have recently questioned Middle Eastern students enrolled at Meacham field schools.
The Syrians told immigration inspectors they came here to train to be pilots for their country's national airline.
Four of the eight schools at Meacham field are run by Middle Eastern men, airport records reviewed by WorldNetDaily show.
Delta-Qualiflight Aeronautics, owned by Khaled Miloud, enrolls the largest share of Middle Eastern students, according to airport sources, who say Arabic is the main language spoken at the school. Miloud did not return phone calls.
The schools, using Meacham field's two runways and flight simulators, train students to fly primarily single and twin-engine aircraft.
The FBI would not comment on the Syrian students. But a spokeswoman for the bureau's Dallas office said agents have been "working very closely" with INS inspectors at DFW to monitor Middle Easterners coming into the U.S. on flight-school visas.
"We're getting thousands of leads here at the Dallas division, many of them concerning Middle Eastern individuals coming in and going to flight schools," Dallas FBI spokeswoman Lori Bailey told WorldNetDaily. "We have several flight schools in the Dallas-Fort Worth area."
INS inspectors at DFW have detained "numerous" Middle Easterners who are in violation of immigration laws, she said. But the FBI has not arrested any in connection with the PENTTBOM investigation of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
After the 9-11 hijackings, FBI agents tracked a suspicious Algerian man to another Meacham field flight school called American Flyers, WorldNetDaily has learned.
According to a spokesman for American Flyers, agents questioned the man at his Fort Worth-area apartment.
"He was very cooperative," he said, "and they gave him their blessing" to attend the school.
The American Flyers manager says that despite "some obvious bad apples," most of the Middle Eastern students who train at American flight schools are "all right."
"I get a lot of people asking me lately, 'Hey, how come you're still letting people from the Middle East train to fly at your school?'" he said. "But I tell them that before they ever get here, they're applications are approved by the State Department."
Indeed, foreigners applying for a student visa have to fill out a federal application, called an I-20 form, and submit it to the American embassy in their country for approval. The form includes the name and address of the U.S. flight school.
"I don't know why the feds are surprised" by the number of Middle Easterners enrolled at U.S. flight schools, he said. "The information is available in advance. They know these guys' names and where they're enrolled long before they arrive here."
A State Department spokesman says the Bush administration has no plans to stop issuing visas to flight-school applicants from the Middle East.
"The Department of State has changed no laws and no regulations from what was in effect Sept. 10," spokesman Chris Lamora told WorldNetDaily.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department has not told the INS to turn back or detain Middle Easterners entering the U.S. with flight-school visas – not even those from countries that sponsor terrorism, such as Syria.
Others on State's terror watch list include Iraq, Iran, Cuba, North Korea, Libya and Sudan.
On Sunday, Osama bin Laden's lieutenant warned that another "storm of airplanes" will hit America.
"Thousands of young Muslims want to die [as martyrs], and the storm of airplanes will not stop," said al-Qaida spokesman Suleiman Abu Ghaith in a propaganda video broadcast on Arab television.
"The storm of airplanes will not be calmed," he said, "if it is God's will."
If there is any in a 100 mile radius of the Cincinnati Beltloop area let me know!!
(from article)
"The Department of State has changed no laws and no regulations from what was in effect Sept. 10," spokesman Chris Lamora told WorldNetDaily.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department has not told the INS to turn back or detain Middle Easterners entering the U.S. with flight-school visas – not even those from countries that sponsor terrorism, such as Syria. [emphasis added]"
I won't imply that you're in the Bush-Can-Do-Know-Wrong Club, and that's why you immediately assumed Congress was to blame, but the article clearly states above that its the Bush adminstration that has done nothing to seal out our borders.
Don't imagine for a moment, however, that these Syrians are not being watched 24 hours a day. Heck, that's probably the reason they were allowed in.
Yes, and they'll even pass an FBI background check!
They'll just come back and use it later, when no one is watching.
Why let them in to "watch" them? It's self defeating. It's a waste of time and resources. These people should not have been allowed to enter the U.S. in the first place. Then we wouldn't have to waste time watching them and protecting our backsides.
Well, as President Bush said; 'you are either FOR us; or AGAINST us.
. .indiscriminate 'teaching' could be interpreted as their being 'against us'; and for that matter, any other school who chooses to take the money and teach a student from a Country that sponsors terrorism. . .if only because the FBI did not say 'NO' soon enough.
Sorry timestax, I'm way over in Hillaryville.
You have an idea that will bring it to the ears of the public though.
The press won't report it.
It's congress that makes laws, that's why I ask what they are doing. I'm not making any assumptions, but I do expect the United States Congress to pass some laws to keep these folks out of our country.
Don't imagine for a moment, however, that these Syrians are not being watched 24 hours a day. Heck, that's probably the reason they were allowed in.
For years I saw the influx of radical Muslims into the United States. I always assumed the FBI was on top of the situation. My assumption was wrong. I still wonder if they can and will really track these guys. One of the keys to our effective defense is to keep non-citizens out of the United States while we clean house.
Well, these men are not totally stupid either. . .might they not just 'play by the rules' for as long as necessary; may even go home and then sneak back in; or just count on the luxury of falling trough the cracks because of an overwhelmed Justice or FBI. . .(they know this because it is their terrorism that is in fact burdening our resources) Could they not get by, long enough to do their deed.
. . .and the chances are?
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