Posted on 07/19/2004 10:15:47 AM PDT by jimbo123
Last Tuesday morning, WomensWallStreet.com (WWS) published my first-person account of a recent Northwest Airlines flight that I took from Detroit to Los Angeles called Terror in the Skies, Again? A heads up about this article went out in our Daily Cents email -- our subscriber newsletter which primarily features financial tips and information for women.
On Wednesday morning, the WWS page views were unusually high, something like 10 times the normal amount. Apparently our readers had been emailing the article to their friends, family and colleagues and everyone was reading it.
By Thursday morning, that number had again multiplied ten-fold. It felt like the shampoo commercial from my youth: they told two friends, then they told two friends, then they told two friends. We sat in the WWS offices reading through your emails, taking stock of what you had to say. As the afternoon went on, the number of people reading the article continued to increase and the telephone was ringing off the hook.
And then a powerful thing happened. The mainstream media started calling.
The following statement was made by Daniel Drezner, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, on his website danieldrezner.com:
I received a mass email linking to this disturbing first-person account by Annie Jacobsen... I can say that the e-mail sent to me and other bloggers was cc-ed to movers and shakers in the mediaspere -- Bill Keller, David Ignatius, George Will, Anne Applebaum, and Nicholas D. Kristoff. So they're certainly aware of the story... I'd like to see real journalists dig deeper into this.
Dig they did. NBC was the first major news outlet to contact WomensWallStreet. The producer I spoke with on the telephone said the FBI had confirmed that 14 Syrians were on the flight, they confirmed the details about what happened upon landing in Los Angeles, and they said that the accounts from the flight attendants regarding what happened during the flight matched the accounts given by me and my husband to the FBI after we landed.
Then I spoke with a producer from ABC. She explained that she could not get Dave Adams, Head of Public Affairs of the Federal Air Marshal Services (FAM), on the phone. So she asked me some of the questions that she had wanted to ask him: Where exactly did this band of 14 musicians play? What was the name of the band? Who booked the band and what kind of music did they play? Did anyone follow up and actually witness these 14 men performing at their desert casino gig? I had none of the answers, even though I had asked Adams these exact questions myself when we spoke last week. The ABC producer also asked me other questions which had crossed my mind after hanging up with Adams. Did I know anything about their return flight on JetBlue? Did the men go back to Syria? Did I believe FAM's story?
(Excerpt) Read more at womenswallstreet.com ...
Just my google and there are oodles of sites on syrian music and bands etc but nothing specific. They could have been with a church, lots of syrians are not muslims, so that is one thing. But you would think someone would have piped up and said they were associated with them.
We do need to know. That doesn't diminish the accuracy of this author's article though.
MIke Smerconish is going to guest host O'Reilly Friday night and he said that he was going to bring it up. He was all over this on the radio this morning.
the flight crew could have said "sit down and put belts on"
But 14 MUSICIANS in a band? Certainly SOMEONE would know about a band that large!
hopefully this will build and lead to some changes, hopefully
Thank you for the ping, Tam.
If this is true, it's pretty clear that
conservative v liberal clashes must make terrorists very happy.
To them, All Americans are just one group:
TARGETS
When will America WAKE UP?!!!
Remember those "doctor" guys who played the supposed prank in the Southern pancake house a while back, saying things to alarm the woman sitting near them? That story was all over the news, all involved were interviewed by Linda Vester, etc.
By contrast, so far this story has been very, very quiet.
http://www.washingtondispatch.com/opinion/article_9581.shtml
Terrorist Training on American Flights?
Editorial by CK Rairden
July 19, 2004
The Department of Homeland Security issues terror warnings with such regularity that many believe them to be almost counterproductive. Many theorize some have gone soft in watching for signs that terrorists are among us, scouting for new locations to kill Americans, or practicing “dry runs” on American flights for future terrorist actions. That cannot be said for “Womens Wall Street” writer Annie Jacobsen.
In an article published earlier this month Ms. Jacobsen describes in detail a harrowing flight that she and her family experienced on June 29 of this year. They were all on Northwest flight #327 from Detroit to Los Angeles on that day and according to Ms. Jacobsen the events that unfolded were a chilling reminder that Americans must remember to remain diligent in an attempt to thwart terrorist attacks. Indeed America is still at war, and there are those who still wish to do us harm.
As her family was waiting to pre-board in Detroit, she noticed that six “Middle Eastern” men were also pre-boarding. After her family is seated on the plane another large contingent of “Middle Eastern” men began to file on the plane, eight total, one in first class and the rest in coach. All totaled fourteen “Middle Eastern” men were now on board. The men looked at each other and nodded and according to Ms. Jacobsen she and her husband became very aware of the situation, as did many other passengers. And for good reason, at times the men stood and congregated at both the front and back of the airplane. They took cell phones and other items into the bathrooms of the plane, and according to Ms. Jacobsen one took a full “McDonald’s bag” into one bathroom, and then exited with a near empty bag, then all of a sudden the bag were gone once he returned to his seat.
Would you be concerned at that point?
Many on the flight were including the flight attendants, the pilots and Ms. Jacobsen’s husband. So much so that he went to speak with one of the flight attendants and was told that the flight had several Federal Air Marshals on board. Ms. Jacobsen recounted her feelings this way, “After seeing 14 Middle Eastern men board separately (six together, eight individually) and then act as a group, watching their unusual glances, observing their bizarre bathroom activities, watching them congregate in small groups, knowing that the flight attendants and the pilots were seriously concerned, and now knowing that federal air marshals were on board, I was officially terrified.”
And who could blame her?
It got worse as the fourteen men continued to move about the cabin of the plane with regularity, some at the back of the plane, and the one man in first class would rise and stand only a few feet from the cockpit door. But it got even more riveting as the plane was finally cleared for landing. Ms. Jacobsen described it this way, “Suddenly, seven of the men stood up -- in unison -- and walked to the front and back lavatories. One by one, they went into the two lavatories, each spending about four minutes inside. Right in front of us, two men stood up against the emergency exit door, waiting for the lavatory to become available. The men spoke in Arabic among themselves. One of the men took his camera into the lavatory. Another took his cell phone. Again, no one approached the men. Not one of the flight attendants asked them to sit down.”
What was going on here? If this is exactly how it happened the flight attendants had no control over the passengers on this plane. Post 9/11 there is no excuse to allow people to wander around an airplane, as it is getting ready for its final descent and especially seven Middle Eastern men. No wonder the passengers were terrified. This was no time for political correctness; this was a time for safety and the crew failed in their duties miserably. Thankfully, the plane landed without incident and the Syrians were questioned by awaiting law enforcement officials at the gate. Ms. Jacobsen and her husband also spent several hours answering questions. As it turns out--officials told Ms Jacobsen later that the group “checked out” and was a band of musicians.
Many have already labeled Annie Jacobsen as a paranoid racist. I spoke with her by telephone at her home on Sunday night, “I have ignored the negatives and am determined to concentrate on the positives.” She continued, “I write financial articles for Womens Wall Street and print publications. I don’t want this to turn into liberal versus conservative, I just wanted to get the story out.” But it has been tough. No major ‘old media’ outlet picked up the story after it ran, it really only grew legs when James Toranto of the “Best of the Web Today” led with it on Friday. The ‘new media’ of Internet blogs then jumped at the story and according to Ms. Jacobsen that has resulted in “over 2 million visits to the Womens Wall Street website over the weekend.” The ‘old media’ is catching up, as she and her husband will appear on NBC Nightly News on Monday and also Good Morning America on Tuesday. She is also scheduled on Scarborough Country on MSNBC on Monday night.
She told me she has no agenda, “I just want to show up and tell the truth.”
And thanks to the ‘new media’ she will have that chance. No matter how much skepticism you have when you read her entire story, it’s a story that needed to be told. Authorities ignored a similar tale of a “dry run” by actor James Woods just before 9/11, and that was a mistake. Too many Americans have fallen back into September 10th type thinking. Those days are long gone. This is a needed wake-up call and Annie Jacobsen knew she would be scrutinized and called anything from a racist to a paranoid profiler for telling it.
America owes her a debt of gratitude; she is a brave patriot for coming forward despite the heavy scrutiny and giving many Americans a much-needed wake-up call.
CK Rairden is the National Editor of The Washington Dispatch.
BTW, the only connections between Syrians and Las Vegas I've been able to find is belly dancing.
"Clearly the story has been corroborated by the FBI!"
I've read references to this, but has the FBI actually issued a direct statement, other than speaking to a blogger, etc.? I'm ambivalent on this (if anything, more inclined than not to believe her) but I would like more facts.
Ditto
NBC News contacted the FBI who confirmed Mrs. Jacobsen's story, the flight, the 14 syrians etc. Although this was posted in her follow-up story nothing could be gained by liying about this.
They've got a thing for the number 14, don't they? See link.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25156
indeed, those planes were given attention because of the female body cavity bomber threats.
the key information was posted on some threads here at the time - who was questioned when the planes landed? female Muslim women, either single or traveling without their husbands. that was the profile, and we can see why. of course, profiling them AFTER the plane lands doesn't do much to protect the flight.
there is no way to solve this issue except to deny the right to fly (not that their is such a right) to persons who cannot prove they can pass the security check. that's how El-Al works, you have to prove to them that you are OK to fly - otherwise you don't go. but with our court system, we could never have this in this country.
Actually, I'm curious. Why do you have your panties in such a twist trying to discredit this woman?
How tight did you have to twist them so you could ignore the fact that the FBI and FAs corroborated her story?
When GW is winning, go to ABCNNBC BS and put your tv on mute and watch them doing Mime in utter depression.
I did that the night we took away the congress when the Toon was president. It was a riot.
its not Mineta's fault.
its our entire system - this is the system that the liberals have given us: the courts, the inability of law enforcement to be pro-active.
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