Posted on 11/02/2001 12:42:52 PM PST by freedomnews
Mideast Cadets
Thursday, 11/01/01
An Eyewitness News investigation has prompted the U.S. State Department to launch its own investigation. Reporter Jay Kolls discovered a foreign army training in our own backyard. Our own government did not know about the training, and the man who brought the United Arab Emirates air force cadets to the U.S. has now left the country.
Although there may be no connections to this training and the September 11 terrorist attacks, three of the hijackers had ties to the United Arab Emirates.
Eyewitness News found out about the training missions after one of the cadets had a skydiving accident.
No, but it does say air force, about a hundred of them. While this doesn't look to be particularly sophisticated training, and they don't sound like a threat, but these weren't students skydiving for pleasure. I for one, think our government should know what foreign students are doing here, particularly members of the military. And particularly when they're from terrorist states. The UAE isn't exactly our friend (I don't care if Colin Powell calls them an ally). This is just another example of the negligent manner in which our government has been securing our borders.
A hundred thousand people to die?
The weapons of today are a hundred times more powerful than yesterday.
If any more Americans die by the hands of these Terrorists, it will be the responsibility of the people like you and our government.
For not closing off our boarders and stopping all Visa's and rounding up all Arabs that are not U.S. citizens
On what basis would you say that? Do you really think some podunk skydiving school in Minnesota is providing sophisticated military training by having these kids jump out of a cessna?
Boy, it must of have been terrific training, too, if the fire department had to come rescue the guy dangling from his chute.
Julian Borger in Washington Thursday November 1, 2001 The Guardian
Six "Middle Eastern" men were stopped in the American Midwest while carrying pictures and plans of a Florida nuclear plant and the Trans-Alaska oil pipeline, only to be released after a security mix-up, it was revealed yesterday.
The incident, which took place in an unnamed state last weekend, is one of the factors that triggered a string of heightened security measures at US nuclear power stations, including a ban on flights below 18,000ft and within 10 miles of a reactor. The mix-up that led to their release has also opened up rifts between America's security services.
Another of the factors behind the FBI's general alert was revealed yesterday as the interception of communications between known members of al-Qaida. One of them was sent from Canada to Afghanistan, and passed to the US by Canadian intelligence. According to one report, the message referred to a big event which was supposed to happen "down south" this week.
A source close to the investigation into the September 11 attacks said the men stopped in the Midwest - travelling in two groups of three in light-coloured cars - were of Middle Eastern appearance and were carrying Israeli passports.
As well as the pictures and descriptions of the nuclear plant and the pipeline, retractable knives similar to the so-called box cutters used by the September 11 hijackers were found in the cars.
"The police did check the passport numbers with the INS (Immigration and Naturalisation Service), but got an OK on them, so they let them go," the source said.
It was unclear last night whether the men had Hebrew or Arab names, and a spokesman for the Israeli embassy said he was unaware of the incident. The INS also denied any knowledge of the incident.
The attorney general, John Ashcroft, and the FBI director, Robert Mueller, were said to be "furious" that the INS allowed the men to go free before the FBI could question them.
Vincent Cannistraro, the former chief of CIA counter-terrorist operations said the incident exposed the deficiencies of the US security organisations. "There's a lot of bickering, a lot of turf battles. You've got a culture which doesn't share information. I don't see how you go about breaking that," Mr Cannistraro said.
Tom Ridge, the newly created director of homeland security, has the task of forcing the competing agencies to cooperate, but so far he has had difficulties coordinating the administration's message.
Whatever they might be, they are not a "foreign army"...
I'm simply going by the report, which may not be true. However, they identify 100 UAE Air Force Cadets attending UW-Eau Claire (that in itself is strange). And all 100 taking skydiving lessons arranged by the same agent, who can't be located, at the same school. My common sense tells me all 100 didn't choose the same recreation. I bet the skydiving club at Eau Claire, if there is one, doesn't have 100 members. Didn't anyone want to go fishing or hunting? You may of course, come to a different conclusion.
Do you really think some podunk skydiving school in Minnesota is providing sophisticated military training by having these kids jump out of a cessna?
It looks like they were providing training, not very sophisticated. What disturbs me is that the government didn't know a thing about it. These guys don't really appear to be a threat, but the slovenly way the State Dept. keeps track of foreign students has cost a lot of American lives.
Ironically had State known and the UAE asked, these kids would probably have been trained at Ft. Benning.
www.aopa.org/insearchof/schools/schooldetail.cfm?FS_ID=185
anyone from Delaware?
I can call the young men in the Marines and Army teenagers, the Viet Cong and the NVA called them "trained killers". When I was 18, I knew how to crawl up on a guard, kill him in about four different ways, and crawl away without making a sound.
These cadets are learning what the Army Rangers know. How to parachute into a location. It is not said in the report if they had been trained in different methods of killing.
Just because the reporter calls someone a cadet does not mean that the person is an uneducated mititary cadet. It is time to start keeping your eyes and ears open because cadets can kill you.
Some "army".
That is one of the best comments on this thread. After the bombing of the WTC in 1993, Clinton just remained asleep at the wheel..well, asleep in the wrong places.
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