Stop me if you've heard this one before. Eleven foreign students from a Muslim nation get off a plane in New York, walk down the street, and turn into a national security problem (via Flopping Aces):

U.S. authorities are searching for 11 Egyptian men who arrived in the United States last month but failed to turn up at Montana State University for a scheduled academic program.

According to the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, the men were among a larger group of students who arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York from Cairo on July 29 with valid visas.

FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko said there is no threat associated with the men.

A law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the men are between 18 and 22 years old.

Now we have eleven young Muslims from a country known for producing radical Islamists walking unattended in the US, obviously uninterested in higher education goals. The Muslim Brotherhood, the forerunner to violent groups such as al-Qaeda, bases its operations in Egypt, and among their alumni are luminaries such as AQ #2 Ayman al-Zawahiri.

The FBI wants to assure us that none of them represent a threat, but this sounds rather disconcerting to me. All of them disappeared at the same time, and all of them listed as their school of choice ... Montana State University? None of the eleven bother to show for their class -- not just one or two who may have gotten themselves caught up in partying or sightseeing, but all eleven.

It sounds like a joke with a very bad punchline. Considering how many of the 9/11 plotters got into the US from Saudi Arabia on student visas, it sounds like a very old and tiresome joke. Instead of trying to blow smoke about the lack of a threat, perhaps the FBI should publish the names and photos of the missing talib and let us help them find the little truants.

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» FBI Searching For 11 Egyptian Students from Morning Coffee
From CBS News  Eleven Egyptian students who arrived in the United States last month are being sought by authorities after failing to turn up for an exchange program at Montana State University. The Egyptian men were among a group of 17 students who ar... [Read More]

Tracked on August 8, 2006 7:45 AM

» 11 Egyptian Men Missing Inside The United States from Flopping Aces
No matter where they are headed. To the above youth fanatic Islam program or flight training, this is a bit disconcerting wouldn’t you say? Little over a month until the 5th anniversary of 9/11 and we lose 11 young men from a known terrorist lov... [Read More]

Tracked on August 8, 2006 11:38 AM

» Nationwide Alert Issued For Missing Egyptians from PartisanTimes.com
With the five year anniversary of 9/11 just around the corner, this is the last thing you want to hear: 11 Egyptians arriving in the US on student Visas have vanished. Eleven Egyptian students who were supposed to travel to a Montana university after f... [Read More]

Tracked on August 8, 2006 12:19 PM

» It Is About National Security from Webloggin
Their visas have been revoked and there is a search for them now taking place. Let us hope these are not people who are parts of sleeper cells that intend to do us harm. ... [Read More]

Tracked on August 8, 2006 1:25 PM

» Do Not Be Alarmed from A Blog For All
I know we should take a bit of comfort knowing that law enforcement realized something was up when these 11 Egyptians didn't arrive at the school as intended, but we need to do more to tighten up border control, which happens to include airport/port ... [Read More]

Tracked on August 8, 2006 9:03 PM