BBC: US Homeland Security "Upset" Cancelations were made so public..

BBC UK ^

[chito]

BBC reports that US Homeland Security officials are reported to be upset that the flights were cancelled so publicly. An unnamed official told the Associated Press news agency security forces had been "hoping that we would be able to lure some of these people in".

The article almost seems to give the French government credit for taking the initiative for cancelling the Air France flights..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3347313.stm

[Shaun_MD]

Gee thanks, press.

[nwrep]

How the hell can you cancel flights "quietly"? It would show up asap on websites, etc. What the hell is DHS thinking? Does Tom Ridge have mad cow disease already?

[Cicero]

Well, this may be disinformation, too.

But I wonder if we notified the French that terrorists might be on those flights, and they just cancelled them without attempting to find and arrest the terrrorists.

[Shaun_MD]

Judging by the article, I guess we didn't catch any bad guys.

[Dog]

They wanted the bad guys to show there hands and board the plane......so we could grab them.

Now there are terrorists going deep undercover in France tonight.

[Alouette]

Terror fear hits Paris-LA flights


The airline is not taking any chances
Air France has cancelled six flights between Paris and Los Angeles amid fears of a terror attack.
Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin requested the flights be cancelled in the light of US intelligence.

The services were to fly between Charles de Gaulle airport and Los Angeles on Wednesday and Thursday.

Earlier this week the US raised its alert status, warning that terrorists could be planning an even bigger attack than on 11 September 2001.

CANCELLED FLIGHTS
24 Dec: AF068 Paris 13.35
24 Dec: AF070 Paris 19.00
24 Dec: AF383 LA 08.30
24 Dec: AF069 LA 19.00
25 Dec: AF068 Paris 13.35
Sixth unconfirmed flight
All times are local
Source: Air France website
Hundreds of passengers have been left stranded by the cancellations over the Christmas period.

Mr Raffarin said the request was due to intelligence "gathered in the framework of Franco-American co-operation in the fight against terrorism".

The BBC's Matt Frei in Washington said US security sources indicated they had alerted the French authorities after scouring the passenger lists.

They said they had found the name of someone they believed to be an al-Qaeda operative due to board the flight to Los Angeles.

We are taking all reports of any threats very seriously

Air France source
US Homeland Security officials are reported to be upset that the flights were cancelled so publicly.

An unnamed official told the Associated Press news agency security forces had been "hoping that we would be able to lure some of these people in".

The cancellations come almost exactly two years after the "shoe bomber" Richard Reid attempted to blow up a flight between Charles de Gaulle airport and Miami.

Other passengers on the flight restrained him, and he was later tried and sentenced to life in prison.


Passengers at Los Angeles endured rigorous baggage checks
The cancellations come amid a huge security operation at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).

Police have stopped drop-offs from private vehicles at terminals, amid fears of a terror attack.

Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn called the restrictions "a precautionary measure during a period of heightened readiness".

On Sunday the US Government raised the national threat level from Elevated to High Risk of terrorist attack.

An Air France source told AFP news agency: "We are taking all reports of any threats very seriously as we are facing the most significant threat we have had since 11 September 2001 and are reacting accordingly.

"We are doing the groundwork appropriate to at least head off some additional attacks."

Air France said it was trying to arrange accommodation for hundreds of stranded passengers.

[chito]

i seem to always see a slant on the part of the BBC and how they report stuff like this..the whole article seems to slant to the french and how they were on the ball to handle this one....my 2 cents

[Keith in Iowa]

I think they're ticked because they announced why the flights were canceled, not that they were canceled.

[Green Knight]

Ping.

[Aeronaut]

How the hell can you cancel flights "quietly"? It would show up asap on websites,

A Northwest Airlines flight from MSP to DFW was cancelled yesterday. I didn't see a thread on it.

[Shermy]

Well, if it was an Air France pilot, France would cover that up.

[VRWCTexan]

I concur - we may be at odds with the French on many fronts - but I don't believe they would refuse to help us in this situation. We and they could have let the flights go and then nab the suspect when they showed up to board.

[thoughtomator]

They cancel 6 flights from Paris to New York and expect nobody to notice?

[TheDon]

You may be right. It's fun thrashing around trying to figure out what is really going on. I did find it rather odd that they were blasting intel out to the press. Kind of feedback for the terrorists, if you know what I mean.

[glock rocks]

How the hell can you cancel flights "quietly"? It would show up asap on websites, etc. What the hell is DHS thinking? Does Tom Ridge have mad cow disease already?

only works if you believe the bbc left. you seem to have bought it.

[Alouette]

i seem to always see a slant on the part of the BBC

Well, good! You would have a problem if you didn't see a slant.

[MediaMole]

Flight could also be cancelled for "mechanical reasons" or "weather" or "staffing." No one needed to announce the flights were cancelled because of terrorism fears.

[biffalobull]

How the hell can you cancel flights "quietly"? It would show up asap on websites, etc. What the hell is DHS thinking? Does Tom Ridge have mad cow disease already?

nwrep; IMHO the best way to cancel flights with out anyone knowing, would be to have all the airlines quietly send all their money back with no reason.This way no one would be the wiser, and nobody would say anything. They would just not show up at the airport. NOT:<(