Posted on 06/23/2013 2:46:32 PM PDT by Abakumov
On Sunday, NSA leaker Edward Snowden landed in Moscow on a flight from Hong Kong. The United States had asked for Snowden’s extradition, but officials in Hong Kong said the request did not comply with their laws. Snowden will probably not be allowed to stay in Russia, and reports vary on where the fugitive will go next – Cuba, Venezuela, Ecuador, or some other questionable country.
The flight from Hong Kong took Washington by surprise, and it is unclear when Snowden will make the next leg of his journey into permanent exile. But the Obama administration might take a lesson from Ronald Reagan. The Gipper’s solution to apprehending airborne fugitives was to go up and get them.
On October 10, 1985, four Palestinian terrorists boarded an EgyptAir 737 charter flight for Tunis. Three days earlier they had hijacked the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, holding the passengers and crew hostage and murdering wheelchair-bound 69-year old American tourist Leon Klinghoffer. After the ship docked at Port Said, the Egyptian government secretly agreed to let the hijackers fly to PLO headquarters in Tunis to “face judgment” (and no doubt praise) from Yassir Arafat.
The Egyptians kept mum on where EgyptAir flight 2843 was headed, but U.S. and Israeli intelligence quickly found out. President Reagan was on Air Force One heading for Chicago when he got word. Reagan was determined to bring the hijackers to justice; the Pentagon had been readying SEAL Team 6 to board the Achille Lauro but had to call off the raid when the hijackers fled into Egypt’s territorial waters. Now the Gipper had another chance. He ordered Carrier Air Wing 17, based on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Saratoga, to intercept the 737 and escort it to the NATO Naval Air Station at Sigonella, Italy.
(Excerpt) Read more at rare.us ...
I do not consider this man a criminal.
I consider Obama, Holder and the people violating my Constitutional rights the criminals.
Let’s not aid the NSA’s illegal spying on Americans.
The difference is forcing down an EgyptAir plane vs an Aeroflot plane. Which one might have a fighter escort? And the crimes are quite different.
Uh no. Reagan would NOT have shot Snowden’s plane down.
What a disgusting analogy!
I couldn’t agree with you more.
He will be shot down.
It never would have gotten to this point under Reagan, he respected the privacy of law-abiding Americans.
Speculation about what Reagan would do ? He wouldn’t! Because he wouldn’t allow government sticking its nose into everybodys business. He wouldn’t particularly in this case because they critisized his policies.
A shame the author doesn’t know anything about Reagan; yet, feels free to write about him which ends up being a lie. Why use FR bandwidth’s on this junk?
Considering the criminal activity exposed by him of the regime. I’m on his side for the moment at least.
Gonna be a real interesting scramble when some of the other thousands of Snowdens our government hired decide they’ve had enough and start leaking at will.
There is no comparison to those 2 events.
I agree. Regan would not shoot Snowdon’s plane down. Obammie might, but Reagan wouldn’t. Couldn’t even.
Reagans administration would have had no tolerance for this NSA secrecy and spying.
Obama on the other hand - thrives on it.
The writer of this article is obviously not very bright.
Waste of resources. Shoot the scumbag when he exits the plane.
Isn’t there a secret memo in the DOJ saying the President can order the assassination of whomever he decides, wherever that person is. Somebody said the guy is a traitor. What more due process does Obama need?
That's the "Chicago Way."
Unreasonable to waste a perfectly useful plane.
Putting aside the bizarre comparison between Edward Snowden and Abu Nidal, this author seems to have forgotten than forcing Nidal’s plane down didn’t do any good. The Italians simply put him on another plane and let him go.
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