Captain's Quarters -

As disturbing as this story is, you have to wonder how many other vulnerability tests have been carried out by terrorists on American soil. Commercial flights are highly monitored, making suspiscious activity relatively easy to detect.

But what about measures to find weaknesses in our food supply or hazardous waste transport system? Where there is little or no monitoring and oversight, terrorists can gauage our weaknesses without being noticed. The more we tell ourselves that Americans are safe at home because of the war in Iraq or that terrorists are neutralized within our own borders, the greater risk we face in another terrorist attack that results in massive loss of life.

We can't forget about fighting terrorists at home- a largely defensive fight that we seem to have forgotten about. The experts continue to warn us that we're not taking adequate steps, but hardly anyone is listening:

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2007/tc20070521_139355_page_2.htm

The Homeland Security Operations Center (HSOC) logs show no entries regarding Flight 327 on the day of the flight. Flight 327 was logged into HSOC's database on July 26, 2004, four days after the events that occurred on the flight were reported by The Times. The suspicious incident was brought to HSOC's attention by an inquiry from the White House Homeland Security Council.

12 Syrian men, with one-way tickets, acting in a very suspicious manner, and not a single log entry? These individuals most likely could have carried out the same operation 30 days later in a real attack- no one noticed the dry run until the press ran a story on the incident.
This just goes to show what a complete bureaucratic farce the Dept of Homeland Security truly is. If there was any real accountability, at least 1 person would lose their job over this. But we all know that's not the way things work.

This just goes to show what a complete bureaucratic farce the Dept of Homeland Security truly is.

Yes, but creating bureaucracies is what government is about!

It sounds to me like DHS owes Annie Jacobsen and the American public an apology. I guess they're too busy slamming people who want to see our borders enforced to actually worry about little things like airline security.  I linked at Northwest Airlines Flight 327: A terrorist dry run. 

So, how many of these guys are still in the United States?

This "religion of peace" crap has gotten Bush into more trouble than you know!

And, Annie Jacobsen's story has been heard. Received. LOUD AND CLEAR.

Shortly after I read the story on Michelle Malkin's blog; my son was traveling. By air. So I sounded like your typical "concerned mom."

My son reasured me there were things passengers could do. And, he also had talks like this with others. For instance. There's the overhead luggage racks. ON THE FLOOR.

There are soda cans. You can bob a terrorist in the eye with a flying container.

There are magazines. You can roll up and use as a weapon.

And, we KNOW, because the "shoe bomber, Reid, was tackled by passengers; that they had a go at him. And, they had him not only down. But bound.

What changed? The flying public, today, is no friend of Bush's pals, over at the religion of peace tent-toe-la. If the presidency has a bully pulpit, Bush hasn't figured out, yet, how to work the controls. (And, no. Meeting and greeting the queen of england, wasn't a good use of his office, either.) But what's the bored man ta do?

Yes, Bush "grew the gov/mint. More paperwork, now, than ever. While his "war on terror" is sure missing not only soldiers; but action. (Building crap in Irak does not count as "action.")

The other thing that's never mentioned? But has an "affect" just the same? When was the last time you wanted to do business with an arab? When was the last time you thought it would be neat to visit eygpt? Or you actually believed anything said by the UN, or diplomats?

Yeah. The UN is still here.

But the money machine that it used to be? Might not be quite as successful, ahead.

And, when flying? Look around. You'll see people more aware of the passengers coming on board, than you'd usually find. And, that's progress!

I believed Annie Jacobson right at the get-go. And, so did lots of other people. You could check this out, because her story is FAMILIAR. How did the story get that way, huh?

Oh, the other thing that should be noticed. The arabs still need human detonators. GONE are the days they can pack someone else's lugggage; and see them off at the airport. Where the bag, inside the luggage area, explodes.

In one sense? We are safer! And, even better! Most Americans are ALERT.

Will this matter in 2008 when we vote? Hope so.

I saw this lady's articles when they came out, like half a dozen, or so, as experiences mounted.

These facts are not surprising to anyone now - except that the FBI decided for some PECULIAR reason to CONFESS to the truth of it - makes you wonder what they know now, THAT WE DO NOT ALREADY KNOW.

Meanwhile, I am beyond fed up with our government acting like it is their business to defend our ENEMIES instead of AMERICA.

So, how many of these guys are still in the United States?

Posted by: kpom at May 27, 2007 6:33 PM
****************

I live in south west Texas, and my aunt lives in South Texas where the Reconquistas took over about 3 decades ago - she reports that now the town in broad daylight is over-run with illegal alien middle easterners.

Posted by: bayam at May 27, 2007 3:01 PM

...The more we tell ourselves that Americans are safe at home because of the war in Iraq or that terrorists are neutralized within our own borders, the greater risk we face in another terrorist attack that results in massive loss of life.

We can't forget about fighting terrorists at home- a largely defensive fight that we seem to have forgotten about. The experts continue to warn us that we're not taking adequate steps, but hardly anyone is listening...

Considering this position and the general silence from the Liberal corner, especially resident Liberals at Captain's Quarters, regarding illegal immigration policy, what is your position on the the current Senate debate and Bush's amnesty plan? Maybe you've commented on this here and I missed it; however, if you haven't, I'm interested in knowing your sentiments on illegal immigration and how your security concerns there, if any, would interleave with the security concerns of internal enforcement and institutional vulnerabilities in the nation's infrastructure.

To be fair, any other Liberals are invited to respond here too.

Wow, bayrum was on this like fruit flies on rotting bananas.

All I have to say is this-both planes that hit the WTC towers took off from Logan Airport in the land of Chappaquiddick Fats and Jean-Claude Kerry. Monsieur Kerry had previously used his high offices to not improve security at said Logan airport. And Al Gore and Billy Bob Clinton killed an airline security measure after receiving some cash from the airplane fliers.

On the other hand, I flew on US Airways on a nonstop flight in May of 2003 from LAX to PHL. Just before we took off, about 20 ministers got on board. No one complained.

According to the Powerline post:

"the visas on which the group was traveling were in fact expired"

I'm pretty sure I get into more trouble if I'm traveling on an expired drivers license. Maybe I need to renouce my US citizenship so I can get some of this preferential treatment that's going around.

According to the Powerline post:

"the visas on which the group was traveling were in fact expired"

I'm pretty sure I get into more trouble if I'm traveling on an expired drivers license. Maybe I need to renouce my US citizenship so I can get some of this preferential treatment that's going around.

A complete distortion of the report. Some highlights:

Overall a key element when considering the response to this incident should be noted,
which is that the 13 Syrian musicians were not terrorists and that the law enforcement
assessments made by the FAMS and FBI on June 29, 2004 were appropriate. This is of
particular importance when considering the involvement of the HSOC.
[snip]
According to IAIP, both DHS and FBI investigated the-suspicious incident
concluding that while there were visa issues involved, it was not terrorist related.
There was no evidence that any the individuals had terrorist group connections.

Of course the greatest fear is that the terrorists are already here and can organize with the outside branches of Islam quite easily. Profiling is so important, as is stopping the bleeding at our borders. Unfortunaely, a WMD will probably cross the border and be detonated in a U.S. population center before people truly recognize the threat. "Some Gave All." Have a safe Memorial Day, my friends, from Political Pistachio.

I wonder what sort of dreams Andrew Lazarus has at night when the lights are out, since he has such a fervid imagination during the day, denying reality.

There have been several of these dry runs reported since 9/11, and invariably the government denies that anything has happened. Every single time. It's all in our imagination(s).

Why do you suppose the people we pay to protect us would do that? Do they *really* think we're all so juvenile that we'd react in panic, or are they trying to cover up their incompetence, or are they all relatives of Mr. Lazarus and truly believe there is no such thing as a deranged jihadist who wants to kill us?

More and more, I keep thinking of 50 years of government official denial of UFO's ... and why would they deny *that*, too.

Andrew J. Lazarus:
Your quote comes from TSA's response to the Inspector General report and is not a quote from the IG itself, which is more critical of TSA. Though it is true that none of the passengers was found to be tied to a terror group. You'd expect clean guys to be used for a dry run, or at least clean IDs (Syrian visas). And so unless they were sloppy, their behavior would just come up as "weird." But I assume they are on watch lists now...I hope so anyway.

On the flying imams, that seems more to be about trying to draw a response so that it can be slammed as bigotry in the media and the courts, freezing such responses for later or just poking a finger in the US eye.

I remember the original shrieking from Jacobsen, and there was nowhere near the amount of detail then as there is in this. Based on her original claims, a reasonable person would conclude this was nothing. Now, with all this new evidence, obviously it merits another look. If people want to play AHA I TOLD YOU SO, go ahead - nobody's listening. Everyone's focused on the new information and how to move on with it.

And I would suggest that airlines have never been safer. Anyone who tried to take over a plane nowadays would find themselves beaten to death by the passengers. Passenger vigilance is at an all-time high. It will never falter.

America needs to be more vigilant at the airport itself - in the terminals and particulary where vehicles arrive.

American port security is non-existent, yet nobody seems to care. Why is that?

I believe there are dry runs that are foiled here and there that we never really hear about because they want to keep the clue trail alive, and the media and blogs would ruin many investigations by talking about them. You can't possibly expect to be told everything, just as you can't expect to know troop positions in a war.

Some things that made me laugh:
1) Del Dolemonte blaming Democrats for for 9/11. I would love to hear you explain how Bush has zero responsibility whatsoever despite the staggering failures in the months leading up to 911. If you take off your party blinders for half a second you would see both parties have demonstrated successes and failures over the years.

2) Rose blabbering "the town in broad daylight is over-run with illegal alien middle easterners." Every middle easterner is an illegal alien? Really? Where's the proof? Their skin colour? ALL of them must be ilegal aliens? What atrocious racist profiling that is.

I'm worried about the legal MErs who are getting Venezuelan passports.

I will agree with dave rywall in that he is correct in that American port and airport security does need to be tightened considerably. Part of the reason for the laxity in security is, I believe, partly a resistance at being inconvenienced by many passengers and customers which translates into an unwillingness to enact said measures; and partly a desire on the part of authorities to avoid the risk of being seen as racist or politically insensitive as some of those security measures would call for a certain amount of profiling. While it is true that Al-Queda is actively recruiting "Western" looking jihadists and women to carry out its missions, and that is something we need to be mindful of, the vast majority of terrorists do stem from the Middle East. Swedish nuns are not in the habit (pun intended) of taking over airplanes. So, Mr. Rywall, if I grant your point regarding the laxity of port security, would you be willing to grant mine that we do need to enact reasonable profiling measures?

Mr. Rywall is also correct in that the Democrats alone were not responsible for 9/11. It was a bunch of radical jihadists who were the responsible parties--let's put the blame where it belongs. Both parties have had their shares of success and failures in the foreign policy arena over the years--remember, it was a Democratic administration who enacted the successful Cold War containment policy that was maintained by successive Democratic and Republican administrations. However, the Democratic party recently has made some notable miscalculations as regards the threat posed by terrorism--as has this administration. The pure law enforcement model has proven to be a failure. However, military force alone is an equally ineffective model. The war on terror will take a judicious mix of military force, law enforcement, diplomacy, and yes, aid in the form of infrastructural assistance and medical and educational assistance and other forms of "soft" aid.

Of course, not every Middle Eastern is an illegal alien out to destroy us--and we have to be careful not to allow ourselves to be taken in by such xenophobic notions. However, the problem of illegal immigration is a real one and must be addressed as it does impact on national security. We must develop an effective means of winnowing out that minority who mean us harm from the great majority of immigrants who only seek a better life for themselves and their families and who will in the end only enrich our society as a whole.

Drywall sez:

"Del Dolemonte blaming Democrats for for 9/11. I would love to hear you explain how Bush has zero responsibility whatsoever despite the staggering failures in the months leading up to 911. If you take off your party blinders for half a second you would see both parties have demonstrated successes and failures over the years."

LOL. And the fever swamps speak again.

First of all, re-read my post again. I didn't "blame" 9/11 on the Dems, and I never said Bush didn't have any culpability. I correctly noted that both planes that hit the WTC took off from Boston, hardly a "red" city. And it is fact that Kerry did stifle security improvements at Logan. The fact that Atta and company concluded that Logan was an easy mark is proven by the fact that they chose that airport, and that airport alone, to hijack not one but two planes from.

Only a Democrat could believe that the entire 9/11 plot was hatched and carried out in the 8 months between Bush's Inauguration and 9/11. In fact, bin Laden wanted to carry out the attacks on Clinton's watch, but Atta said he needed more time for training.

As for the "staggering failures" in the months leading up to 9/11, blame the Gorelick Wall between the FBI and the CIA for that. The fact that the Dems desperately snuck Gorelick onto the 9/11 Commission as a member (she should have been a witness instead) and the fact that they had to have Clinton's National Security Advisor steal and then destroy classified documents from the National Archives shows that they are the ones with something to hide about the run-up to 9/11. Not Bush.

The conclusion that this was indeed a dry run is an invention of the Washington Times, cheered on by Malkin, Jacobsen, PowerLine, and National Stormfront. Don't join the queue.

Posted by: Andrew J. Lazarus at May 27, 2007 11:33 PM

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The conclusion that this was indeed a dry run is blatant on the face, and on the deeper investigation as well.

Any "conclusion" to the contrary by Liberal Socialist Stalinists is also blatantly seen for what it is worth.

The day will come when such events are NOT dry runs, and such blatant COVER for them is also still easily perceived - you've made your choice which side of the battle lines you stand on.

If you think anyone on the other side of the line is going to give YOU cover "because you have Freedom of Speech" while disregarding the testimony you just gave of where your LOYALTIES lie, hehehehehe, hang onto that thought til the bitter end.
Just keep telling everyone you see, you have Freedom of Speech.

2) Rose blabbering "the town in broad daylight is over-run with illegal alien middle easterners." Every middle easterner is an illegal alien? Really? Where's the proof? Their skin colour? ALL of them must be ilegal aliens? What atrocious racist profiling that is.

Posted by: dave rywall at May 28, 2007 10:22 AM

****************

In the border regions, we can spot illegals as easily as city dwellers can spot gang members. We've lived this reagion a whole lifetime.
My aunt's region is controlled by Reconquistas.

You can be as assinine as you wanna be. But you cannot be secure in your person as an American citizen, and this assinine, AT THE SAME TIME.

Reminds me, a famous former football player was been to death in a Minneapolis ally by gang members a couple days ago.

Wonder if THEY were legal citizens, who beat a man to death to rob him.

BTW, the work that is begging for employees in South Texas, in the border region these days is in the OIL FIELD!

You said "ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS" and then went on with: the airport is in a blue state, in Kerry's home state, Kennedy's home state, and that Clinton and Gore cut security funding.

Sounds like an accusation to me. But if you think the situation is that simple, and that you can blame noe party and not the other, then you really need to read more and type less.

No reasonable person, Dem or Repub, would believe 9/11 was hatched/created in those 8 months leading up to it. Nor would any reasonable person believe that it was hatched/created entirely before Bush came to office. You choose to only focus on Dem failures without acknowledging Republican ones. And that's where you lose all credibility, with those party blinders on.

Dave Rywall,

This safety you mention -- is that why 121 of your representatives (none of them Republican nor Independent -- all of them Democrats) voted against immunizing against lawsuit private citizens who come to the aid of an aircrew during a hijacking attempt.

Obviously we are so safe that such a law is not needed.

Party blinders, indeed!

The only shrieking done on Flight 93 on 9/11 was done by the jihadists when they realized the American passengers were fighting back.

To describe Ms. Jacobson's original report as "shrieking' is a lame junior high level debating attempt at labeling her a hysterical female, and therefore not to be trusted.

Consistently, in the last three or four years, I have observed the name-calling to start with the anti-war leftists. Using words like "shrieking" is a form of name-calling, and to me, what it means is that the person using this tactic has absolutely no proof or facts, and must therefore fall back on killing the messenger.

I wonder if part of the rage of the anti-war left is because they feel just so dadblamed stupid in these arguments.

Uhh, unlesmrgol, I'm not American.

We outsiders shake our heads equally at both of your bungling parties. If anything, we see too much of both sides. Party blinders, indeed.

dave rywall,

I didn't call you an American. Do I have to announce in every post the country of the person I'm responding to, eh?

And I'm glad Canada has one functioning party, and I'm even more glad that it's IN POWER.

For the record, the immunization passed, retroactive to November 20, 2006, so the people who notified authorities in the "Six Imams" episode are covered.

WE are our won best defense! "Cops" can't be everywhre.

And, the one thing about America, is that neighbors do make eye contact. And, lots of the securities we have, we supply, by ourselves.

Annie Jacobson's story MADE IT ONTO THE NET. So you could learn, if you wanted to see what the Net can do; is bypass the tired and lame media.

Yes, people have a right to be concerned! People who fly don't want to fly KNOWING there's a religion out there that tells its lunatics; that killing infidels brings them to heavenly glories. Sorry, folks. None of that is true.

Again, Americans by the score know this!

We also have a pretty good idea that government "wars" ... be they on terror or drugs; seem to be lacking "goal posts." And, yes. MONEY TALKS. Just look at the cartels! Look what you can buy when you've got the money! We just provide a system with lawyers attached.

But very little fighting is going on that leaves people all that proud. How'd we get here? 9/11 is a piece of it. Because the Saud's FUNDED that one! And, they also supplied the vias, (express visas), from Riyadh. And, for what its worth? (Because I don't think its worth all that much?) The Saud's own haarvard.

But what is it that we do have? TERRORISM. Stuff that comes out of "nowhere." And, disappears behind veiled curtains.

It also sucks up welfare checks!

And, if you think politicians are trained to cure these problems, then you'd also believe they can cure cancer.

Still, "changes" happen. Today's newspaper business, for instance, isn't what it used to be.

Religions, too, go through periods of expansion. Until you see big empty buildings just standing there.

I just never bank on things staying the same.

And, I compliment the Internet, because WHEN Annie Jacobson took that flight, which is now years ago? It was the INTERNET who brought her concerns to the fore. This makes Americans MORE alert.

And, if you want to know the best defense? It's when citizens are MORE ALERT.

Re: dave rywall- "Rose blabbering "the town in broad daylight is over-run with illegal alien middle easterners." Every middle easterner is an illegal alien? Really? Where's the proof? Their skin colour? ALL of them must be ilegal aliens? What atrocious racist profiling that is."

You say racist profiling like it's a bad thing; in the case of national security it isn't and neither is Islamo-phobia.

Nahncee -
Your movie of the week rewrite of actually happened on flight 93 is cutely patriotic. Misinformed, detatched from reality, but cute.
In that horrible deadly situation if you think nobody was crying or screaming in panic, I have no idea what fluid runs through your veins. Is it human?

I never labelled Jacobsen a hysterical female. You did. I used shrieky to describe it because, in my opinion, and based on the details at the time, she was jumping to wild conclusions in an overreactive, over the top way.

Name-calling always happens from the left first, eh? Like the first instance of name-calling on this particular board: Del Dolemonte insulting Democrats with"Chappaquiddick Fats and Jean-Claude Kerry"? Like that?

Uncle smorgl - you wrote to me: "121 of your representatives". A resasonable person would conclude that you were calling me American.

And all I have to say to you, Bassetteer is: Wow. What century are you living in? Hey - how do you feel about internment camps for all Muslims in Amercia until this whole war on terror is over? Or mass deportations? I mean you reallllly can never be sure, right? Tough times call for tough measures.

The paranoia and hysteria of this story is too far-fetched to be believed.

jar jar,

Some of us still remember flights AA11, AA77, UA93, and UA175.

Sometimes, when you are paranoid, someone really is trying to kill you.

dave rywall,

You might as well put away your beaver. You comment frequently on American politics, and which side in our political spectrum you occupy is obvious. I know which of our political parties is yours, just as you know which one of yours is mine.

Yah, we know that someone (and probably quite a few someones) screamed on flight 93. I'm sure quite a few did on the other flights too. The Betty Ong recording indicates extensive use of mace by the hijackers on flight 11 to gain entry to the cockpit. But she sure didn't realize that flight 11 was shortly to smash into the Towers. Some of those on flight 93 heard by cellphone what was happening, and took action. They may have failed, but in trying they saved many lives.

Now that we know what the terrorists would do, we can't stand idly by any more.

Why anybody wastes a second on the drywall coming from Canada is beyond me.... The man's an embarrassment to the good people of Canada; a raving loony; a socialist wimp American hating fool...

Other than that, he's probably alright...

Drywall sez:

" You choose to only focus on Dem failures without acknowledging Republican ones. And that's where you lose all credibility, with those party blinders on."

LOL, nice try. As I correctly stated, the Dem failures were much more serious than the Repub failures, which were in fact caused by the Dems in the first place (I refer to the Gorelick Wall). If the Dems had treated terrorism not as a law enforcement issue but as a military one, the attacks might have been prevented.

Remember, it is fact that bin Laden actually wanted to carry out the 9/11 attacks much earlier-when Clinton was still in office-but Mohammed Atta said he needed more time to train, even though the plan was already developed while Clinton was still abusing cigars at work. You folks would have certainly been in a pickle if the attack had taken place on 9/11/2000. How would you have blamed Bush then?

BTW, you just admitted you're not American. Let me guess, you're a BBC-brainwashed Brit?

I think you're looking at this through the wrong end of the telescope.

But on one front, Bush, who is way to close to the Saud's, and other men in dresses; didn't sell the public on the religion of peace, at all. By the time he leaves office, it's gonna be a wonder that he ever got in! Given the skills that have gone missing.

On the other side? Well, I saw it with my own eyes. A nice family of muslems opened a restaurant/deli right near Trader Joe's. At a very busy intersection in Pasadena. (Rosemead at Huntington Drive.) They lasted as long as their lease. NO CUSTOMERS! Not ever! Finally, they took to having a food cart (grill), outdoors, IN FRONT OF THE STORE. With a few tables. DITTO. NO BUSINESS.

That's something that's happened.

Oh. And, I used to notice way more women sasheying about with hair coverings and long sleeves. This, too, seems to have diminished. So, take your pick.

Some muslems in the USA have "assimilated." And, not to draw attention to themselves are dressing like "if they were in Rome. Doing what the Roman's do."

Yes, there are clusters, now, within our college and university system. But to those people who care to notice, ALL OF OUR SCHOOLS DIVIDE BY GROUPS. Not a lot of diversity, there, either.

What's the advantages to the USA? Take a small portrait, from the recent USC graduation. My friend's son got his Master's Degree. And, she said there were about 800 graduates. What she noticed? Lots of the people drawing credentials came from INDIA. So, in countries that have a sense of real value; one of America's top colleges draws people from all over.

For every loon that wants to come here to don a suicide belt, there are hundreds of thousands of people who'd give their eye teeth to be here! And, certainly NOT THERE! Under the despots who force out the worst behaviors from their citizenry.

And, yes. When a country goes down the toilet (like Lebanon is doing), there's no "quick" recovery.

Terrorism is NOT what hitler did! Hilter built a real fighting force. He didn't think he'd get much resistance; but he spent TREASURE on tanks and planes. And, putting men into the field with guns.

Eventually, in about a dozen years, from start to finish, hitler was buried in a parking lot.

Terrorism, on the other hand, depends upon kooks.

IF Americans really felt threatened by the kooks? It would make for a bigger sound than just the closing up of wallets.

So far, though, it's not much different than re-living the days of the Wild West; where not all indians were bad guys. But when the naked bad guys came over the hill; dressed in war paint, they were always indians. Till there were few.

I also think that IF there's another "big" Saudi funded terror attack? Woe, onto them.

It might not look like we've been doing much.

But against terrorism, how can you tell?

And, if I had to guess? The Saud's are unhappy with where they are now. Having started something that very well WILL bite them in the arse.

Drywall writes "You folks would have certainly been in a pickle if the attack had taken place on 9/11/2000. How would you have blamed Bush then?"

What a brilliant new way of analysis. Simply transport historical events to different times and shift the blame accordingly. His only fault is that he doesn't go far enough with it. Why not write "What if Clinton had invaded Iraq in 1993, how would you blame Bush for the Iraqi invasion then?" Or maybe, "What if the balanced budgets of 1999/2000 had happened in 2006/2007, how would you blame Bush for budgets with large deficits then?" The possiblities are endless.

Yes, the 9/11 attacks could have happened in 2000, but they did not, they happened in 2001. Bush had been President for 8 months, he could have changed any Clinton policies he wished (such as removing the Gorelick Wall you mention). He did not. That is why he deserves part of the blame.

KEEMO: Thanks for the predictable immature name-calling:
" raving loony; a socialist wimp American hating fool..."

DEL: I see colossal failures by both parties. You don't. Let's agree to disagree.

UNCLESMRGOLS: I would like to hear those magical 9/11 cell phone messages left on people's voicemail. Wouldn't you? I wonder why they aren't released to the public 5 years later...

And I never suggested anybody stand idly by.

COUNTERFACTUAL: Uhhh, I didn't write "You folks would have certainly been in a pickle if the attack had taken place on 9/11/2000. How would you have blamed Bush then?"

Del Dolemonte did.

But you are right, that people are claiming the seeds were already sown and 9/11 was a done deal about to happen is really ridiculous. If Bush was so on the ball and Clinton not, in those 1st 8 months, exactly what did Bush do to prevent 9/11 or undo what Clinton fu**ed up? Diddly squat? Yes. That's what he did.

Drywall - you are right, I misattributed Del Dolemonte's quote to you. My apoligies. I suppose in the spirit of my post, I could now say, "but what if Drywall had written it?"

I'd I had written it, then the No Canadians on CQ Brigade©®™ would have started a bunch of ranting about 9/11 being an Americans-only affair.

The Syrians are very lucky they were not acting up at an airport in Hillbillyland. They would have their guts stomped out at the check in desk.

dave rywall,

Here is your wish -- recording (and transcript) of Betty Ong on Flight 11; destination -- The Twin Towers.

um.... we're supposed to believe that the government allowed a bunch of Syrian nationals who were conducting dry runs of terrorist attacks on domestic flights to roam freely about the country, even after they'd been identified? Does that even pass the smell test?

This entire article was de-bunked in Time magazine three years ago (click my URL link to read what the Air Marshals on the flight had to say about what went on... hint: nothing). Plus the story doesn't pass the logic test: To wit-- we're supposed to believe that Syrian nationals were conducting dry runs, their names are known and they weren't arrested? Doesn't pass the "smell test," does it?

RE: IncandenzaH at May 29, 2007 3:54 PM
...Does that even pass the smell test?

Are you suggesting here that these men are assuredly no one that anyone should worry about because they've been verified "clean" by our government, or that we should remain concerned because they've been verified "clean" by it?

I interpret your comment to be the former though I'd suggest the latter. Competent and incompetent personnel, whether by nature or by design, are entrenched in ginormous bureaucracies and constrained by guidelines, rules, and penumbras from competing interests to defend this nation. The complexity of process ensures that institutions remain somewhat dysfunctional whether we want them to be or not.

It's hard to know if the handling of these men and their case is benign, negligent, criminal, or treasonous. If nothing negative happens (and we may never know if it doesn't), then history will ignore the event. If something does happen, we may or may not know about it... but if we do, history will not be kind as our 20/20 hindsight kicks in.

What to do.

And bayam, no thoughts on illegal immigration WRT national security?