Officials say al-Qaida operatives may be fully trained airline pilots

MSNBC.com ^ | 12/22/03 | NBC

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Authorities raised the terrorist threat assessment over the weekend after new intelligence indicated that operatives of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida terror network, possibly trained and licensed to fly passenger jets, may now be pilots for some foreign airlines, ideally positioning them to carry out suicide attacks, U.S. officials told NBC News on Monday.

Reinforced cockpit doors intended to thwart hijackers after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks would now protect any terrorist pilot at the controls, the officials said on condition of anonymity.

Authorities would not describe the terror threats in detail publicly, but the U.S. officials told NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski that the threat alert would remain at “orange,” or high, through the end of January, which they said was an indication of its seriousness.

[truth_seeker]

"There is no doubt 9/11 was a big hit within the terrorist community, not to mention the majority of muslims."

True. Likewise Pearl Harbor was a big hit with the Japanese.

Normandy, Hiroshima and Nagasaki were big hits with Americans and their allies.

In the end, our capabilities so far exceed those of the diabolical muslims, that at some stage we will win.

It is just a matter of how many muslim deaths the muslims desire to bring about on themselves.

[COEXERJ145]

Err, talk about bad grammer on my part.

One problem is if we are only deploying small SAMS line Stingers or similar IR missiles...

line=like

Of course the best thing to use against a hostile airliner is Phoenix missile with its 135 lb. warhead.

"is A Phoenix..."

[doug from upland]

FEMALE SUICIDE BOMBER -- A Scenario

[gdc61]

how about a 30 second burst of 20mm cannonfire? i bet that would shread a big cargo jet up like confetti.

[MississippiMan]

If something like this happens we will drop our no-bias-against-Muslims stance so fast, they'll be wearing garters in Mecca.

What on Earth would make you believe something so silly? We'll do no such thing. Why would we do then what we didn't do after 9/11? In case you've forgotten, we changed the name of our operation from Infinite Justice to Enduring Freedom solely because the name of our war offended someone.

Bet you a buck right now that if we get hit again and lose 5000 innocent Americans, Bush will increase his Islam-is-a-peaceful-religion rhetoric, not decrease it. I don't know if you've flown since 9/11 or not, but in a nutshell our airport security all too often consists of pulling elderly white and black Americans out of line to have their feet examined and their bags rifled through, while Middle Eastern males walk on board without the slightest inconvenience.

If you think our government, including Bush, is going to abandon political correctness in the interest of our security, you're sadly mistaken. And even if our leaders were willing, the government is such a bloated, slow-crawling bureaucratic monster that it would still be at a huge disadvantage.

MM

[MediaMole]

IMHO, The target most at risk would be the Sugar Bowl at the Superdome. It is the national championship game, so it will have huge TV exposure and it is in a domed stadium.

If the Rose Bowl is targetted with an aircraft, the people who were not directly in the path would have a good chance of survial, but in a domed stadium, the collapse of the roof would kill as many as the initial impact of the aircraft. On top of that, the fireball would be contained in the dome during the moments before the roof collapsed, so the effect of the fire would be magnified.

[azcap]

WackyKat is right. Destroying the Kaaba will do no more to end Islam than destroying the temple in 587 BC or again in 68 AD ended Judaism. You have to attack the ideas not the symbols. It's more like the long struggles to end slavery or communism than it is simply blowing up the mother-ship.

[Travis McGee]

Ahhh...but is Islam is not so much a religion as it is an insane murder cult. Prick the balloon of Allah's omnimpotence, and the air will rush out of it faster than the Soviet Union collapsed. Allah is all powerful, and the Ka'aba is Allah's concrete totem on earth. They pray to that rock 5X a day for Pete's sake! To THAT rock! If the black moon-god rock, Mad Mo's Mojo, suddenly becomes a crater.....

Then Allah was just a fake. Jonestown.

[MediaMole]

"Where are SAMs being deployed in the US? (Besides the White House)"

Pentagon, Capitol(AQ likes to finish targets-WTC), and with the latests intel, I hope at least MANPADS at as many of the hinted targets outside DC.

There are lots of Stingers deployed wherever they are needed. And not just by Fed LEOs.

[Fledermaus]

Uh, the report says they would be pilots for foreign airlines. If they aren't flying US planes, why would their cockpit doors be better barricaded? I'd also bet foreign airlines had them already.

I'd also think the background checks for pilots, US and foreign, are quite stringent.

[Travis McGee]

The Jews didn't prostrate themselves 5X a day, no matter where they were in the world to worship the physical temple. There is no comparison. Catholics don't worship St. Peter's or the Vatican. Etc.

Muslims worship that one black meteorite, the physical godhead on earth for Mad Mo's insane murder cult. They lay down 5X a day to worship that one rock in mecca. They travel the entire worls at least once in their lives (if at all possible) to stroll around it on the haj. There is no comparison to any other religion to the way the Muslims worship that rock. That rock is the distilled essence of Allah's omnipotence. No rock, the Allah is a fake, a fraud. Poooooofffffft. No air in the balloon of belief.

[chebkhaledfan1]

Ignint pipe dreams.

[thoughtomator]

What makes me believe that is a sense of a generalized and barely repressed realization on the part of much of the nation that Islam is in fact the problem. What will make the next attack different is that it would demonstrate repeatability.

When we experienced 9/11, it was very similar to Pearl Harbor - indeed, that was the historical reference made by pretty much everyone who commented. An essential element of that image is that it was a one-shot deal. There was never any Pearl Harbor II.

I believe the general expectation - however unrealistic it might be - is that there won't be another 9/11. Certainly people don't act like it, or we'd act differently in many ways with respect to our national and personal security.

But repeatability changes the perception of the threat dramatically. Attack #1 doesn't necessarily make people believe there will be an Attack #2. Attack #2 however will make people expect Attack #3. This is why we dropped not one but two atom bombs on Japan - to demonstrate repeatability.

In the face of repeatability I believe the self-defense instinct will break the already-weakening bonds of PC. So, God willing that neither of us ever have to pay, I will accept your one-dollar wager.

[tubavil]

Those who already know the score must take their own action.

And those who wait will do so under martial law.

[chebkhaledfan1]

Yes, you're right, all those 19 "muslims" represent Islam.

[chebkhaledfan1]

Darn, where's the "edit" feature? I forgot to add the /sarcasm tag. Bush would never in a million years lift a finger against the peaceful american muslim population. Then he'd really be asking for a fight.

[FirstPrinciple]

Yeah right! The only thing that would happen is a bigger Ramadan feast at the White House.

[chebkhaledfan1]

You basically nailed it. Thank you.

[tubavil]

:-)

[WackyKat]

IMHO, The target most at risk would be the Sugar Bowl at the Superdome. It is the national championship game, so it will have huge TV exposure and it is in a domed stadium. .... but in a domed stadium, the collapse of the roof would kill as many as the initial impact of the aircraft. On top of that, the fireball would be contained in the dome during the moments before the roof collapsed, so the effect of the fire would be magnified.

The Lucky Dogs in the concession area would survive, though-they're indestructible.

New Orleanians will get the joke.