[NeoCaveman]

I hear ya. We are screwed.

[SBeck]

It would be nice to know where they are going.

[robowombat]

Those who graduate in the top 5% of the class will be offered an elective in flying (but not landing) large multi-engined aircraft.

[kellynla]

yea right...I wouldn't let these guys within two hundreds yards of my johnson much less an airplane...forgetaboutit....what did we fall off the turnip wagon here or what????

[Spruce]

Un-Firggin-Believable! State Dept. has their collective heads up their butts! What's it gonna take?

[kellynla]

wait til Jay Leno hears about this...there's enough material there for one night's whole monologue...

[Wurlitzer]

"Jeff Katz just reported a Saudi Arabian airline official expressing "with pride" that 202 Saudis coming to US for airline mechanic training. I give up."

This makes sense actually. See they already have the shop rags and the fan belts on their heads. Perfect for a mechanic.

[SBeck]

Repeat to oneself ad nauseum: "We have a strong, good relationship with Saudi Arabia, they are our friends, they speak better English than us, we enjoy them."

Anyway that's what our lickspittle of a President says.

[sam_paine]

Ok. Here I go again.

Where do the majority of Saudi Aerospace (commercial and military) widgets come from?? (Boeing/Lockheed.) So where do you train them to keep them flying? (Boeing/Lockheed maybe?)

Do we have any links to someplace where this story is written in a bit more detail?

[Prodigal Son]

Old news actually. I would note too that the terrorist hijackers on 9/11 didn't work for an airline. This sort of thing is pretty much routine. Where else do you think they're going to get this training? Samoa? I understand the concern, but these individuals are on a roster, they are employed with a big company, they are easy to track. The ones you have to be worried about are the one that come in ones and twos- students, asylum seekers, ordinary immigrants... They come, they violate their visas, they stay and plan. Not all, but enough.

[fivecatsandadog]

whoa - wait a sec... training, as in classroom/simulator type environment, not actually working for an airline and making repairs, right? God help us if we're THAT stupid. derf

[Bon mots]

What's the big surprise. In order to send wave after wave of suicide bombers at the infidel Kaffirs, you must have qualified people. Jihad is just getting off the ground.

[Captainpaintball]

www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=17697

202 Saudia staff being trained in US
By a Staff Writer

JEDDAH, 12 August — Saudi Arabian Airlines has sent 202 employees to the United States for advanced training in aircraft maintenance, Al-Watan reported yesterday. Ahmad Jazzar, vice president for technical affairs, said the Saudis, who will be trained at advanced aviation institutes in the US, would receive international license for aircraft maintenance.

[A_perfect_lady]

I'm as paranoid as anybody and I can't stand Saudi Arabia at all. HOWEVER... these folks are, from the tiny bit of information here, employees of a Saudi airline, they are not coming here to work on any of OUR airlines. I think the idea is to train here and go back home to work in Saudi on a Saudi airline. Now, if they were coming here to work on OUR airplanes, I'd be dizzy with shock and dread (and yes, hatred.) But they aren't, from what I can see.

[SEGUET]

If I'm not mistaken we are talking about President Bush's State Department - with no connection to Past President Clinton - is that correct?????

[tomahawk]

Can you spell S A B O T A G E? Yes, let's train Jihadists the fine mechanics of our aircraft so that they can sabotage them when they out to advance the cause of Jihad.

[SamAdams76]

I thought the Saudis didn't go for manual labor. They usually hire peons to come into the country and do that kind of stuff for them (like Americans).

[Lessismore]

According to http://www.saudiairlines.com/1024/main-site/services/fleet.asp they have

Boeing 747-468, 5
Boeing 747-368, 10
Boeing 777-268, 23
Airbus A-300-620, 11
McDonnel Douglas MD-90, 29
Boeing 737-268, 8
Boeing 747-268 (Freighter), 1
McDonnel Douglas MD-11F (Freighter), 4
Boeing 747-100, 9
Boeing 747-SP*, 3
Boeing 707, 2
Lockheed L1011-500, 2
Beachcraft A-36 Bonanza (Training), 6
Piper Archer II (Training), 8
Grumman Gulfstream II, 4
Grumman Gulfstream III, 3
Grumman Gulfstream IV, 6
Falcon 900-021, 2
Twin Otter, 1

for a total of 137 aircraft.

All but the 11 Airbus and the solitary Twin Otter are American. I guess they go to Europe for Airbus training and to Canada for Twin Otter training, eh?

[RedBloodedAmerican]

I posted this type of info after 9-11 and was told I was wrong. Yet I taught several who were Princes from Saudi, and they were returning to work over there in their Air Force, where they are Captains and higher. Saudi mechanics are nothing new. The USA also has supported an American Aviation University in SA for a LONG time. We train their people to work on their F16's all the time. Telemedia, Lockheed Martin, MD, Boeing, Pratt...they are all there training Saudis.

[F16Fighter]

By any chance does Jeff Katz work for the 'Onion' ?

Next 'item' we'll hear about is the "203 Cannibals Sent To U.S. To Work As Surgeons".