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Report confirms terror dry run By Audrey Hudson THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published May 30, 2007 Download the inspector general report (PDF) A newly released inspector general report backs eyewitness accounts of suspicious behavior by 13 Middle Eastern men on a Northwest Airlines flight in 2004 and reveals several missteps by government officials, including failure to file an incident report until a month after the matter became public. According to the Homeland Security report, the "suspicious passengers," 12 Syrians and their Lebanese-born promoter, were traveling on Flight 327 from Detroit to Los Angeles on expired visas. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services...

Britain is living through its most threatening time since the second world war, John Reid, the home secretary, warned today. In a speech to Demos, a London thinktank, the hyperactive home secretary - who will mark 100 days in the job this Friday - confirmed that a terrorist attack on the UK was "highly likely", as signalled by the current "severe" warning on official government websites. He also called for a "Darwinian" approach to the legal system, saying that it must be "responsive to change" in order to protect the nation against terrorism. Mr Reid said: "It is not the...

Homes and businesses across England are being searched and 21 people questioned after police say a plot to blow up planes from the UK to US was disrupted. They say they are convinced they have the key players in custody, but a wider investigation is only just beginning.

PRAGUE, August 10, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The British authorities are in no doubt -- after an operation lasting several months, the security services have foiled an imminent terrorist attack. British Home Secretary John Reid said the security services had raised the threat level from "severe" to "critical," the highest possible level, which, according to the website of MI5, the British Security Service, means an attack is expected soon. "The police, with the full knowledge of ministers, have carried out a major counterterrorism operation to disrupt what we believe to be a major threat to the United Kingdom and international partners,"...

This is long, so if you are short of time scroll down to the bold section.If you've been following this series of articles, you might recall that in my last article, I wrote about the Captain of United flight 925 who discovered -- once he was half-way across the Atlantic -- that two passengers he was carrying were on the "no-fly" list. Many of you have written to WomensWallStreet.com wondering how, in the age of information, this could be possible? What exactly is the "no-fly" list anyway, some readers are asking? Who decides what names go on the list? Who...

... Then, just minutes before the aircraft doors were set to close, ground agents hurried down the jet way with a group of late arrivals. advertisement According to the ground agents, the nine men had arrived independently on separate itineraries from various Middle Eastern countries. The flight crew was told that one man came from Lahore, Pakistan, another from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, another from Afghanistan. Several of the men had no carry-ons, which one of the flight attendants found unusual. Most passengers embarking on a long, international flight carry at least something with them. The flight attendant took the...

This was posted at Cynical Nation: This hasn't hit the news yet, but my brother-in-law is sitting on a plane in Heathrow Airport as we speak, and there is apparently some action going on. It seems his plane was stormed by agents with machine guns, who seized a Middle Eastern passenger from my brother-in-law's row and removed him from the plane.

Since I first starting writing on the subject of airline security (Terror in the Skies) I have received volumes of email on related subjects. Among my correspondence, there are certain incidents that stand out, including the one you'll read about today. It stands out not just because of the incident itself, but because the lack of media coverage as well as the "official" spin on the part of the airline and security personnel in its aftermath, much like my experience, defies belief. But I'm getting ahead of myself… A few days ago, I received an interesting email from Barry Johnson,...

This is Part V of the ongoing series entitled “Terror in the Skies, Again?” A few days ago, WomensWallStreet.com received an important email. It was from Billie Jo Rodriguez, another passenger who was on Northwest Airlines flight 327 from Detroit to Los Angeles on June 29. Billie Jo is a Certified Public Accountant living in Oxnard, California. She had some additional, disturbing information about flight 327 that she felt someone needed to know. She had been so terrified by what happened on the flight that she sent two emails to the Department of Homeland Security telling them about the experience,...

The 14 Syrians on Northwest Airlines flight 327...To the dismay of many, it's the story that won't go away. The fact that a group of Syrian men acted in a way that terrified some passengers and caused a squad of federal officials to be called out to meet the plane upon landing is of interest to anyone who flies the friendly skies. And that is why this story won't just go away. The 14 Syrians on Northwest Airlines flight 327...To the dismay of many, it's the story that won't go away. The fact that a group of Syrian men acted...

It's been two-and-a-half weeks since the first "Terror in the Skies, Again?" article was posted on WomensWallStreet.com and subsequently set off an international debate.  From the cockpit to the coffee shop, from the water coolers to the halls of Congress, countless numbers of people have been talking -- and shouting -- about this article.  It seems that anyone who reads the article develops a strong opinion, which in turn creates more questions.  Flight #327 has opened Pandora's box.Last week, when the name of the band was revealed (Syrian singer Nour Mehana) one side shouted: See, we told you so!  Then,...

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....

A WWS Exclusive Article Note from the Editors: You are about to read an account of what happened during a domestic flight that one of our writers, Annie Jacobsen, took from Detroit to Los Angeles. The WWS Editorial Team debated long and hard about how to handle this information and ultimately we decided it was something that should be shared. What does it have to do with finances? Nothing, and everything. Here is Annie's story. On June 29, 2004, at 12:28 p.m., I flew on Northwest Airlines flight #327 from Detroit to Los Angeles with my husband and our young...

Source Annie Jacobsen Gets a Visit from the Feds This is Part XIII of the ongoing series entitled "Terror in the Skies". By Annie Jacobsen 4/22/2005 The call came a little over a month ago, on my cellular phone -- which is not listed. It went like this: "Hello Annie, this is [name withheld, and name withheld, and name withheld and name withheld]. We're from the Department of Homeland Security." "Yes." "We'd like to set up a time to talk with you." "Okay, now is good." "Actually, we'd prefer to come to your house. How is March 15?" "Not so...

Key points • Terrorists thought to have targeted at least two US flights in dry-run attacks • 9/11 Commission warns attack worse than Twin Towers 'probable' • Cameras caught 9/11 terrorists setting off security alarms prior to hijacking Key quote "Every expert with whom we spoke told us an attack of even greater magnitude is now possible and even probable. We do not have the luxury of time" - Tom Kean, chairman 9/11 commission Story in full DEVASTATING new evidence has emerged that terrorists are preparing another attack on the United States, with air marshals and flight crews reporting a...

A BAND OF 14 ILLEGAL ALIEN SYRIANS?! By Michelle Malkin · July 23, 2004 01:47 AM WNBC investigative reporter Scott Weinberger reported on Joe Scarborough's MSNBC show tonight that the 14 Syrians on Northwest Flight 327 ALL had expired visas. He said that law enforcement officials xeroxed the men's paperwork without looking at the dates. The visas had expired nearly a month earlier, according to Weinberger.