Crash not seen part of terrorist warning (US Received 11/12 Warning)

Washington Times ^ | 11/13/01 | Bill Gertz

[kattracks]

U.S. intelligence agencies received a warning that terrorists were planning an attack timed to Nov. 11 but so far do not believe yesterday's airliner crash was part of an attack.

One intelligence official said a warning was sent to senior Bush administration officials last week stating that unidentified terrorists were planning to carry out some type of mass attack on Nov. 11

[Lion's Cub]

The idea that this was not terrorism is laughable. The only thing we need to learn from the investigation is how it was done.

The reason I know this is terrorism is simple. Bin Laden said in his tape that there would be more planes lost. I'm not a statistician, but I know the odds that an AMERICAN Airlines airliner flying out of New York on Veterans Day would be the ONE plane to have a fatal "accident" out of all the planes to fly in the world yesterday are absolutely astronomical.(Not to mention it was a flight with enough fuel for some 1500 miles). We just need to know how it was done and who to arrest-- and which terrorist-abetting regime to go after next.

[Travis McGee]

It's very likely to have been a bomb placed in the baggage compartment, but here is an alternative scenario I offer:

Consider a shooting scenario, the intention being to cause a catastrophic failure of an engine on take off leading to a crash.

I would envision a (hypothetical) runway sniper using a van soundproofed on the inside with cheap foam mattresses. The exact shooting position would be determined in advance so that a shooting chair and rifle rest could be set up inside the van in advance. The shot could be taken through a removed small rear door window.

The shooter would drive to his pre-determined road side parking place, get in the chair, and use his 12 or 20 power off-the-shelf scope to observe the jets as they turned into the take off position. Seeing the big twin engine jet with the American Airlines logo side-on, he would have plenty of time to settle in for his one and only shot. He would pick a twin engine, to maximize the chance of causing a crash after shooting one engine.

As the jet races down the runway straight towards him, the shooter holds his crosshairs just above the center of the 12 foot diameter engine. As the wheels come off the tarmac, he fires. Even a .30 caliber slug through the engine turbines could cause the massive failure he seeks, a .50 caliber would ensure it.

If the jet lands right on him, he screams "Allah Akbar" with a big grin on his face, and goes to collect his 72 virgins right away.

If the jet crashes beyond him or not at all, he gets back into his driver's seat, and checks his map for the route to Logan, Dulles, O'hare or Miami International.

*******************************

So why do I go to the trouble of pitching this hypothesis? Because even if there was no sniper at the end of the runway at JFK today, there might be next week. The national guardsmen standing around looking scary in the terminals doing nothing but providing pseudo-security PR, should instead be patrolling the airport runway approaches with their M-16A2s, looking for my hypothetical but entirely possible (even likely) snipers.

What are they doing in the terminals anyway? Looking for hidden boxcutters with their X-ray eyes?

[Texasforever]

It would serve the goals of this administration very well to declare this a terrorist act. If they don't then you can pretty much bet it was just an accident.

[Texasforever]

I am not saying that this is not a terrorist act. However, the administration has more to gain in saying it was an act of terror than in declaring it an accident. American Airlines is history either way.

[Lion's Cub]

List of *AA Flight 587 stories can be found here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/fr/involved?group=191

[nopardons]

You know what ? I really believe that ALL of the tinfoil hat club would be delighted if Dick Cheney blew up the White House.

I am growing more and more weary of people here, who know absolutely NOTHING about any of the details, deciding that this was a terrorist attack !

[all4one]

There are also many people who are growing weary of the NTSB and other officials proclaiming so soon after the incident that this is an "accident". It seems that they take a year to find a conclusion for TWA flight 800, but just hours to determine an accident. They don't yet have all of the pieces to make a clear determination either way.

[Lion's Cub]

It would serve the goals of this administration very well to declare this a terrorist act

Not necessarily. They may be juggling the need to keep the economy going and the airlines financially afloat with the need to justify the war to our allies.

[mewzilla]

I'm with you. The gov't should just shut the heck up--until they know for sure one way or the other. They're going to look even worse, lose what's left of their post Flight 800 credibility, if after saying they're almost sure it's an accident, that OBL was responsible. Or maybe it would be the VRWC.

[Beenliedto]

It would serve the goals of this administration very well to declare this a terrorist act.

I think not... for one thing, it would make a sham of the notion that the federal government is capable of either running an efficient post office or an efficient security system. For another, it would likely cause an already troubled airline industry to go further south. It's in the best interest of the administration for this NOT to be seen as a terrorist attack.

[Carolina]

The gov't should just shut the heck up--until they know for sure one way or the other.

Would you really rather have them be silent? I suspect that if this had been the NTSB's course of action, there would be a loud chorus here of "COVERUP!"