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.

[Air Assault]

bump for later reading

[bootless]

Love those Bones. A couple of years ago at Oshkosh, they did some pretty impressive flyovers. I have some still shots of them, but I had to wear my Peltor headsets to keep my hearing.

I would NOT want to be on the business end of one of those.

[tbeatty]

Most international flights would have very little fuel when they reach the US.

What flies into this country also has to fly out. That's when there is a very full fuel tank.

I would hope we have a vetting process for letting pilots back on the plane. I was assuming that their was a breech of security at the origin country where we don't have a lot control (like a last minute switch of pilots or something). If we don't do background checks and vetts on pilots that are departing in fully loaded 747's then we are stupid.

[azcap]

Lucky Dogs could actually be significantly improved by a dirty bomb.

[PhilDragoo]

If the black moon-god rock, Mad Mo's Mojo, suddenly becomes a crater.....

Then Allah was just a fake. Jonestown.

That's evil.

I like it.

Allah: Australian for "glass parking lot"

[SAMWolf]

Allah: Australian for "glass parking lot" Sooner or later the West will realize that Islam is the new Nazism.

[autoresponder]

Surface to Air missiles now deployed ringing major urban targets.

[Selene]

The U.S. revokes visas of 17 pilots who fly the Caracas-Miami route for Venezuelan airline
AP ^ | Dec 19, 2003

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1043695/posts

I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT THIS ONE:

Bolivia holding nine Bangladeshis suspected of plot to attack U.S. target in Argentina
The Associated Press ^ | 12/5/03 11:22 AM | ALVARO ZUAZO
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1034644/posts


LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) -- The Bolivian government said Friday it was questioning nine Bangladeshis after French police warned the group may have been planning to hijack an airplane for an attack on an American target in Argentina.

"We cannot confirm them," Interior Minister Alfonso Ferrufino said of the French police warnings.

The Bangladeshi suspects are being held in the Bolivian city of Santa Cruz. A second official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said seven other people -- nationalities not provided -- had been questioned and released.

Bolivian police said they received an urgent warning from Mare Bertrand, a police attache at the French Embassy, that said: "French intelligence services have received information that leads us to think that the citizens from Bangladesh may board planes in South America, hijack them and crash them against U.S. targets."

The Santa Cruz daily El Deber reported that the group was planning to fly to Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Dec. 2, but the airline, Aerolineas Argentinas, canceled the flight "at the last minute."

According to Bolivian officials, the Bangladeshis flew from France to Argentina and on to Bolivia.

It wasn't immediately clear when they arrived in Bolivia.

Prosecutor Jaime Soliz said the Bangladeshis will be sent to Argentina.

Police identified the detained suspects as Jahangir Alam, 24; Morad Hossain, 27; Mihir Lal Ray, 30; Mohammed Jalkaria, 26; Anwar Hossain, 24; Ahmed Chowdhury Fares, 25; Mohammed Mahubud Alam, 24; Mohammed Eftaker Hossen, 24, and Sohel Rana, whose age was not known.

Last week, Argentina ordered security to be stepped up near the U.S., Spanish, British and Italian embassies in Buenos Aires after government officials said they received foreign intelligence warnings of possible terrorist threats.

Defense Minister Jose Pampuro said Argentina also had boosted border patrols after receiving warnings from "two international intelligence services" -- whom he did not identify -- that an attack could be imminent.

Argentina was hit by two terrorist attacks during the 1990s, both of them targeting the country's Jewish community, Latin America's largest with an estimated 200,000 people.

A March 1992 bombing destroyed the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, killing 28 people. Two years later, a blast at a Jewish community center killed 85 people in the Argentine capital and wounded more than 200 others.

[autoresponder]

NYC already has ground to air missiles ringing and within the city now.

They are not there for show.

[radu]

One of many dots to connect and it's not a pretty picture. Now I need to go through the zillions of threads I've bookmarked over time to see if I can find links.

It was reported some time back that a truckload (it may have been more than one truck) of airline uniforms (maintenance; baggage; security personnel) was stolen. The truck(s?) was found but it was empty.

At that same time, airline pilots were alerted that pilot uniforms and ID badges were being stolen out of motel rooms.

Recently, the alert is given that cargo planes may be used in attacks and now this news.

Cells comprised of a pilot, co-pilot, and baggage handlers working together on cargo flights.......

Has my attention!!

[Indie]

That is cool! I like the idea of wingtipping the foreign carriers on approach. I was just using DCA and LGA to make the point. Now on this thread http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1045279/posts?page=64

it appears we're all doomed anyway with nukes. All I can do is stay locked and loaded and if anything happens, I will do my personal best to exterminate all "things" Islamic from my area. Their silent acceptance and celebration of 9/11 makes them all guilty.

[Indie]

Proof the almighty dollar and open borders means more to these government wackos than the safety of the American people. Riddle me this: why no shelters? Why no vaccines for the public? We are naked as jay birds to the effects of any attack. But I will truly take a lot of Islamists with me if it comes to attack.
Stop Islamic foreign carriers? Never. Sheesh...

[Indie]

Nahh, we don't need a leader. We have guns and know what to do. That is all that is required.

[Indie]

if we get hit again and lose 5000 innocent Americans, Bush will increase his Islam-is-a-peaceful-religion rhetoric, not decrease it.

That's where WE as armed militia come in friend....BWA HAHAHA!

[FreeAtlanta]

With automation as good as it has become, I wish all big aircraft would be fitted with tamper proof autopilot that can be activated from the ground and would force land the plan at the nearest qualified airfield.

Who knows, maybe this terrorist stuff might be the straw that gets the public to accept pilot-less airliners. The technology is available. It would eliminate human error and inhuman terrorist takeovers.

[livius]

I heard (from someone in LE, although not my police officer daughter, who never tells me anything :-)) that a large shipment of delivery service uniforms was stolen. I don't remember whether they were UPS or FedEx, but LE was supposed to be watching those trucks very carefully.

[livius]

Selene, your posts about Latin American connections are right on. There is a lot going on down there, and AQ has very active cells. They also have a terrorist sponsor, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who even happens to have the brother of Carlos the Jackal (who is, btw, a convert to Islam) working in his government. To say nothing of Fidel, who is visiting Hugo right now, I believe.

I live in Florida, and the folks at the Miami airport seem to nab suspicious people every day who are trying to infiltrate from LatAm.

[Jim Noble]

on Sept 12 2001, I wanted to see every illegal alien expelled and/or jailed. Every Arab non-US citizen expelled. So did I. ....and on Dec. 22, 2003, my sentiments haven't changed one bit.

Look on the bright side...

Although the Post Office is out of Christmas stamps, you can still get plenty of Feast of al-Eid stamps for those last-minute cards.

[c-b 1]

Who do we nuke if it happens?

Mecca, and Mohammed's burial site would be a good start.

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

You'd also think that we would have been able to prevent people who are on our watch list from entering the country (ie. 9/11).