Fat, ugly and stupid is no way to go through life
Posted on 08/12/2006 9:50:42 PM PDT by balch3
ONDON - NBC News has learned that U.S. and British authorities had a significant disagreement over when to move in on the suspects in the alleged plot to bring down trans-Atlantic airliners bound for the United States.
A senior British official knowledgeable about the case said British police were planning to continue to run surveillance for at least another week to try to obtain more evidence, while American officials pressured them to arrest the suspects sooner. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case.
In contrast to previous reports, the official suggested an attack was not imminent, saying the suspects had not yet purchased any airline tickets. In fact, some did not even have passports.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
ping
"And what if the "dry run" had been intended to blow up one jetliner over the Atlantic as a "proof of concept", rather than merely an innocuous plane ride with chemicals but with no detonation? "
EXACTLY! In the 1994 Bojinka plan they did try to blow up an airplane, actually killed and wounded people and it was a miracle the plan could still land.
See article below:
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ANOTHER TRY: Terrorists tested liquid explosives on a jet in 1994 (lots of v interesting info!)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1682237/posts
In December 1994, Yousef tested his device using a fraction of the explosives planned for the main bombs. After walking through the X-ray machines at Manila airport with a 9-volt battery hidden in each of his shoes, he boarded a Philippines Airline Boeing 747 heading to the Philippine city of Cebu.
Halfway through the short flight, Yousef disappeared into the toilet, took off his shoes and assembled his bomb. It took just a few minutes, and then Yousef quickly tucked the tiny bomb into the life vest under his seat. The plane flew on to Cebu, where Yousef disembarked before the final leg of the flight to Tokyo.
Haruki Ikegami, a 24-year-old Japanese businessman returning home from Cebu, took Yousef's former seat. Two hours later the tiny device exploded, nearly tearing Ikegami in two, killing him and injuring five others.
The blast blew a hole in the floor and severed the cables that controlled the plane's flaps. The jet's steering was damaged, but the plane's captain dumped fuel over the sea and managed to make an emergency landing in southern Japan, saving 272 passengers and 20 crew members.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1682237/posts
Weren't the terrorists to leave from visa waiver countries?
So, the RATS got some sh-t in their grits? So???
Dean Finds Timing of Terrorist Plot Suspicious
Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee has assailed the “poor timing” of the recently thwarted al-Qaeda plot to blow up multiple trans-Atlantic flights from the United Kingdom to the United States. “We had the Republicans on the ropes,” Dean complained. “All the polls showed us picking up dozens of seats in Congress—enough to take back the majority and ensure the impeachment of President Bush, now this. Are these terrorists idiots? Couldn’t they wait until after November?”
Dean didn’t confine his wrath to what he dubbed “those bumbling Muslim nincompoops.” He offered an alternative take on events that was more conspiratorial in nature. “How do we know it’s not a put up job?” Dean mused. “It’s easy to arrest people and claim they were going to launch an attack. Maybe there was no planned attack.”
Dean asserted that the “trigger-happy duo” of Bush and Blair—the “killer Bs” as he called them—were, at best, escalating the violence against the U.S. and U.K. “These two act as if a ‘pluralistic society’ is the only acceptable way to govern,” Dean said. “Bush and Blair are risking our lives by foolishly espousing an abstract concept of liberty. Well, every suicide attack against us is a powerful vote for a different culture of governance. We need to take heed of these votes instead of blindly lashing out at this different point of view. The belligerence of Bush and Blair is escalating the conflict.”
Dean said he still remains hopeful that memories of the “alleged” narrow escape from this latest terrorist attack will fade by November. “Football season will be starting, there’ll be the World Series, a new TV season—plenty of things to distract voters from the alleged success of Bush’s war on terror,” Dean said. “I’m confident our ‘u-turn for America’ theme will convince a majority to place their trust in our party.”
In related news, the ACLU expressed dismay that a key tactic in the U.K.’s foiling of the plot to blow up airliners was a so-called “sneak-and-peek” program where British intelligence experts covertly broke into suspects homes and implanted listening devices. “This was an outrageous trampling of civil rights,” said ACLU spokesman, Bertram Petty. “Some may find comfort in the lives saved, but we see a greater danger in the privacy lost. We must do everything we can to ensure that this kind of intrusion doesn’t happen here.”
read more...
http://www.azconservative.org/Semmens1.htm
I think that most of the terrorists slotted to board the planes were British citizens, intending to leave from Heathrow (London) on US-carrier planes bound to the U.S.
Memo to Lisa Myers: You might want to try doing just a tad of research. Other news organizations are saying the terrorists received a message: "Do your attacks now".
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1682700/posts
"The lefty moonbats are exactly the type of armchair intelligence agents who have savaged the Bush administration for supposedly missing the signs leading up to 9/11, but are also the first ones to posit a conspiracy when the Feds move sooner rather than later to nip an evolving plot in the bud."
Bears repeating.
Why did any of them need passports? They weren't intending to arrive anywhere.
You make it sound so easy, but the reality is that to get a one day passport, you need to meet quite criteria in both identification and need.
Fat, ugly and stupid is no way to go through life
The unnamed British official can be tried under strict British secrecy laws. It seems that the Brits also have their own traitors in government.
What if the "Dry Run" was a ruse to keep intelligence agents at bay while it really was the main event?
They couldn't wait for more evidence. It was too risky.
BULLSHIT
The Whitehouse was in close contact with the Brits, and concerned that the proper balance be maintained between continuing surveillance to collect valuable intel on the one hand, and not waiting too long to prevent execution of the plot on the other. BUT, the Brits ultimately made the arrests at the time they did for two salient reasons: The perps has purchased their materials (and indeed already prepared the bombs, see here) and the Pakistanis had arrested a plotter there which it was thought would tip off the rest of the cell (see here).
The question is, what are the British rules for issuing passports on an expidited basis?
In response to another poster, your passports is stamped upon DEPARTURE from your country of origin as well as upon arrival at a foreign destination, so a passport would be required to board most international flights.
US travel regulations for UK citizens:
UNITED KINGDOM (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) - *Passport required. Visa not required for stay of up to 6 months.
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