Posted on 09/27/2001 11:42:45 AM PDT by CounterCounterCulture
The presumption is that the aircraft was sabotaged or suffered a major mechanical failure and not a suicidal pilot as many believe. "I am supported by Allah, to die for Allah," is what the pilot was reported to say.
There is a quirk in that the Egyptian flight crashed outside of Nantucket and not near the Statue of Liberty as the picture shows.
Strange coincidence nonetheless if it is a coincidence.
Very good question...the same thought occured to me.
I'm gonna tell Illbay you said that and boy is he gonna be mad! ;-)
You can see literally hundreds of renditions of this event throughout the Egyptian government,s (especially the military's) buildings.
With hot air balloons?
It is certainly not the state flag, but probably the flag of the army of the Republic of Egypt (state flag has no red/white/black shield on the eagle). Note that it is not exactly the same. No crossed swords. Eagle is facing left above and right with the balloons. The shield colors are reversed. Perhaps the balloon picture is reversed.
Good idea. It would be helpful to know if in addition to crop dusters the terrorists were checking out hot air ballons.
Ballons would provide an ideal platform for distributing biological or chemical agents. In addition, they would provide an air burst capability for the suitcase nukes that bin Laden reportedly has in his possession.
Even if there is no direct connection related to this calendar, the air ballon threat should be considered by the authorities and just as importantly by air ballon enthusiasts. I am certain there is a "U.S. Association of People Who Air Ballon" or the equivalent who should get the word out to their members to be on the look out for potential terrorists. I base this on the confirmed reports of their interest in crop dusters.
Consider the effectiveness of a ballon to bypass the conventional security measures at a nuclear power plant or any other potential target. At night it would be difficult to detect and would not show up on radar. Low tech and deadly. Like a box cutter.
http://wwwijzer.nl/NieuwsArchief/artikel.pl?id=204306&pagina=0&query=kalender%20Ouwerkerk%20BVD&datumsort=&bron=alles
BVD onderzoekt herkomst kalender
27 sep 2001
AMSTERDAM - De Binnenlandse Veiligheidsdienst stelt een diepgaand onderzoek in naar de herkomst van de omstreden kalender, die eind mei in Almere is opgedoken. Burgemeester H. Ouwerkerk heeft de BVD en de politie van Almere op de hoogte gebracht van de in Flevoland circulerende kalender, waarover gisteren door De Telegraaf werd bericht.
Woordvoerder Vincent van Steen zei woensdag dat de BVD "de zaak zeer hoog opneemt".
Volgens de BVD moet de afbeelding van het neerstortende vliegtuig bij de wolkenkrabbers en het Vrijheidsbeeld van New York in verband worden gebracht met een toestel van Egypt Air dat op 31 oktober 1999 bij het eiland Nantuckey in de Atlantische Oceaan is gestort.
De spreuk bij de afbeelding zou overeenkomen met de laatste woorden van de co-piloot, die het toestel volgens Amerikaanse luchtvaartautoriteiten door een zelfmoord-aktie liet neerstorten. Arabische bronnen verdenken de Amerikaanse luchtmacht ervan dat het het toestel heeft neergeschoten.
In Almere is in allerijl een recherche-onderzoek gestart. "We zijn geschrokken van de afbeelding in de media. Pas als diepgaand onderzoek is afgerond, zal er helderheid zijn", aldus politie en gemeente gisteren in een reactie.
Dreigtelefoontjes
Het bestuur van de Stichting Islamitische School in Almere distantieert zich van berichten als zou de kalender op en rond de school hebben gecirculeerd. De school kreeg woensdag diverse dreigtelefoontjes. "Het getoonde beeld op de kalender heeft betrekking op het Egyptische vliegtuig dat door de Amerikaanse luchtmacht in de buurt van New York was neergehaald. De tekst boven dit beeld geeft de laatste woorden van de piloot weer. De betekenis daarvan is: heb vertrouwen in Allah", aldus de school in een verklaring.
Een woordvoerder van de gemeente Almere zegt: "We bepleiten dat de school zo open mogelijk is, zodat onze verhouding met de islamieten niet verstoord raakt. Dat is ons veel waard."
In de Tweede Kamer werd gisteren geschokt gereageerd op de omstreden kalender.
"Verschrikkelijk", zegt VVD-Kamerlid Cherribi. De liberaal wil dat Interpol en de Amerikaanse FBI op de hoogte worden gesteld over de makers van de kalender. "De mensen die dit hebben verspreid moeten gepakt worden. Die kalender is een harteloze vorm van propaganda."
"Verbijsterend en afschuwelijk", zegt een geschokt CDA-Kamerlid Verhagen. "Dit is natuurlijk absoluut niet wat wij verstaan onder het overdragen van normen en waarden bij integratie."
Volgens Cherribi is de kalender een regelrechte aanval op de integratie van de moslims. "Dit zijn de vijanden van de moslims. Ze gebruiken een heel scherp beeld om de emoties te veroorzaken", aldus de VVD'er.
De gemeentewoordvoerder weet niet hoeveel kalenders er circuleren op de school en of ze daadwerkelijk in mei werden verspreid. De gemeente heeft Al-Iman verzocht om aangifte te doen bij de politie.
© 1996-2001 Dagblad De Telegraaf. Alle rechten voorbehouden. e-mail: redactie@telegraaf.nl zoekresultaten volgend artikel
Ballons would provide an ideal platform for distributing biological or chemical agents. In addition, they would provide an air burst capability for the suitcase nukes that bin Laden reportedly has in his possession.
Even if there is no direct connection related to this calendar, the air ballon threat should be considered by the authorities and just as importantly by air ballon enthusiasts. I am certain there is a "U.S. Association of People Who Air Ballon" or the equivalent who should get the word out to their members to be on the look out for potential terrorists. I base this on the confirmed reports of their interest in crop dusters.
Consider the effectiveness of a ballon to bypass the conventional security measures at a nuclear power plant or any other potential target. At night it would be difficult to detect and would not show up on radar. Low tech and deadly. Like a box cutter.
Actually, a balloon wouldn't be a good vehicle for any kind of weapon. A balloon has no steering, they are at the mercy of the winds.
Balloons as a rule do not fly at night, its tough to land when your only instrument is eyesight. You generally only see balloons in the early morning or 2 to 3 hours before sunset. During the day, thermals can be incredibly dangerous to balloons.
As far as breaching normal security, balloonists know other balloonists. I can tell you that mid-eastern balloonists are extremely scarce. In the heightened alert state we are in now, if someone doesn't know who you are, I bet they wouldn't get off the ground.
Ok, so that pretty much rules out the balloons themselves as a weapon. I would be concerned with what they could do in the New Mexican desert. With a crowd of about 250,000 people a day it could be devastating.
Balloons didn't look like in the picture when the 6 day war happened.
The Six Day War started June 5, 1967. I doesn't sound like the kind of war that justifies highlighting helicopters on a calendar since they survived less than 24 hours, it seems.
Blimps are all grounded until further notice.
Very true. But none of the hijacked airliners landed.If your mission is to distribute a bio agent over a large city, accuracy is not required. If the winds are out of the north, you launch due north of town. It sounds as though you know a great deal more about the subject and ballonists than I do, but I do think it would be wise for the ballonist community to be aware of the depiction on the calendar, especially if the month with the ballons is not June, the month of the Six Day War.
I am going to notify several parties and try not to panic anyone. ;) I'm sure their security is going to be exceptionally tight this year.
I certainly wouldn't want to be responsible for Albuquerque getting cancelled.
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