**This Should Be Read** Dry Run for another Airline Highjacking: A long but very, very ominous story

[Evilmav2]

This is a long read, but a frighteningly pertinent one. It sure sounds to me like the Mohammaden Jihadists are getting ready to strike again, and incidents like the one recounted in this mother's article show that when these madmen murder innocent Americans again, they will do it in an even more fiendishly well prepared way than they did on September 11.

If our Islamic blood enemies are planning on packing large groups of Jihadists on planes (the better to control the terrified and raveningly violent mob that the passengers will become the next time a hijacking occurs), armed with devilishly secreted weapons, and combinable bomb components, and are currently "dry running" these operations on real flights, I can't imagine that real attacks can be far off. This article really makes me think that the odds of our having to endure a murderous, Islamic "October Surprise" before the election, are looking very, very likely...


Terror in the Skies, Again?

By Annie Jacobsen

A WWS Exclusive Article


Note from the E-ditors: 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 son. Also on our flight were 14 Middle Eastern men between the ages of approximately 20 and 50 years old. What I experienced during that flight has caused me to question whether the United States of America can realistically uphold the civil liberties of every individual, even non-citizens, and protect its citizens from terrorist threats.

On that Tuesday, our journey began uneventfully. Starting out that morning in Providence, Rhode Island, we went through security screening, flew to Detroit, and passed the time waiting for our connecting flight to Los Angeles by shopping at the airport stores and eating lunch at an airport diner. With no second security check required in Detroit we headed to our gate and waited for the pre-boarding announcement. Standing near us, also waiting to pre-board, was a group of six Middle Eastern men. They were carrying blue passports with Arabic writing. Two men wore tracksuits with Arabic writing across the back. Two carried musical instrument cases - thin, flat, 18 long. One wore a yellow T-shirt and held a McDonald's bag. And the sixth man had a bad leg -- he wore an orthopedic shoe and limped. When the pre-boarding announcement was made, we handed our tickets to the Northwest Airlines agent, and walked down the jetway with the group of men directly behind us.

My four-year-old son was determined to wheel his carry-on bag himself, so I turned to the men behind me and said, You go ahead, this could be awhile. No, you go ahead, one of the men replied. He smiled pleasantly and extended his arm for me to pass. He was young, maybe late 20's and had a goatee. I thanked him and we boarded the plan.

Once on the plane, we took our seats in coach (seats 17A, 17B and 17C). The man with the yellow shirt and the McDonald's bag sat across the aisle from us (in seat 17E). The pleasant man with the goatee sat a few rows back and across the aisle from us (in seat 21E). The rest of the men were seated throughout the plane, and several made their way to the back.

As we sat waiting for the plane to finish boarding, we noticed another large group of Middle Eastern men boarding. The first man wore a dark suit and sunglasses. He sat in first class in seat 1A, the seat second-closet to the cockpit door. The other seven men walked into the coach cabin. As aware Americans, my husband and I exchanged glances, and then continued to get comfortable. I noticed some of the other passengers paying attention to the situation as well. As boarding continued, we watched as, one by one, most of the Middle Eastern men made eye contact with each other. They continued to look at each other and nod, as if they were all in agreement about something. I could tell that my husband was beginning to feel anxious.

The take-off was uneventful. But once we were in the air and the seatbelt sign was turned off, the unusual activity began. The man in the yellow T-shirt got out of his seat and went to the lavatory at the front of coach -- taking his full McDonald's bag with him. When he came out of the lavatory he still had the McDonald's bag, but it was now almost empty. He walked down the aisle to the back of the plane, still holding the bag. When he passed two of the men sitting mid-cabin, he gave a thumbs-up sign. When he returned to his seat, he no longer had the McDonald's bag.

Then another man from the group stood up and took something from his carry-on in the overhead bin. It was about a foot long and was rolled in cloth. He headed toward the back of the cabin with the object. Five minutes later, several more of the Middle Eastern men began using the forward lavatory consecutively. In the back, several of the men stood up and used the back lavatory consecutively as well.

For the next hour, the men congregated in groups of two and three at the back of the plane for varying periods of time. Meanwhile, in the first class cabin, just a foot or so from the cockpit door, the man with the dark suit - still wearing sunglasses - was also standing. Not one of the flight crew members suggested that any of these men take their seats.

Watching all of this, my husband was now beyond anxious. I decided to try to reassure my husband (and maybe myself) by walking to the back bathroom. I knew the goateed-man I had exchanged friendly words with as we boarded the plane was seated only a few rows back, so I thought I would say hello to the man to get some reassurance that everything was fine. As I stood up and turned around, I glanced in his direction and we made eye contact. I threw out my friendliest remember-me-we-had-a-nice-exchange-just-a-short-time-ago smile. The man did not smile back. His face did not move. In fact, the cold, defiant look he gave me sent shivers down my spine.

When I returned to my seat I was unable to assure my husband that all was well. My husband immediately walked to the first class section to talk with the flight attendant. I might be overreacting, but I've been watching some really suspicious things... Before he could finish his statement, the flight attendant pulled him into the galley. In a quiet voice she explained that they were all concerned about what was going on. The captain was aware. The flight attendants were passing notes to each other. She said that there were people on board higher up than you and me watching the men. My husband returned to his seat and relayed this information to me. He was feeling slightly better. I was feeling much worse. We were now two hours into a four-in-a-half hour flight.

Approximately 10 minutes later, that same flight attendant came by with the drinks cart. She leaned over and quietly told my husband there were federal air marshals sitting all around us. She asked him not to tell anyone and explained that she could be in trouble for giving out that information. She then continued serving drinks.

About 20 minutes later the same flight attendant returned. Leaning over and whispering, she asked my husband to write a description of the yellow-shirted man sitting across from us. She explained it would look too suspicious if she wrote the information. She asked my husband to slip the note to her when he was done.

After seeing 14 Middle Eastern men board separately (six together, eight individually) and then act as a group, watching their unusual glances, observing their bizarre bathroom activities, watching them congregate in small groups, knowing that the flight attendants and the pilots were seriously concerned, and now knowing that federal air marshals were on board, I was officially terrified.. Before I'm labeled a racial profiler or -- worse yet -- a racist, let me add this. A month ago I traveled to India to research a magazine article I was writing. My husband and I flew on a jumbo jet carrying more than 300 Hindu and Muslim men and women on board. We traveled throughout the country and stayed in a Muslim village 10 miles outside Pakistan. I never once felt fearful. I never once felt unsafe. I never once had the feeling that anyone wanted to hurt me. This time was different.

Finally, the captain announced that the plane was cleared for landing. It had been four hours since we left Detroit. The fasten seat belt light came on and I could see downtown Los Angeles. The flight attendants made one final sweep of the cabin and strapped themselves in for landing. I began to relax. Home was in sight.

Suddenly, seven of the men stood up -- in unison -- and walked to the front and back lavatories. One by one, they went into the two lavatories, each spending about four minutes inside. Right in front of us, two men stood up against the emergency exit door, waiting for the lavatory to become available. The men spoke in Arabic among themselves and to the man in the yellow shirt sitting nearby. One of the men took his camera into the lavatory. Another took his cell phone. Again, no one approached the men. Not one of the flight attendants asked them to sit down. I watched as the man in the yellow shirt, still in his seat, reached inside his shirt and pulled out a small red book. He read a few pages, then put the book back inside his shirt. He pulled the book out again, read a page or two more, and put it back. He continued to do this several more times.

I looked around to see if any other passengers were watching. I immediately spotted a distraught couple seated two rows back. The woman was crying into the man's shoulder. He was holding her hand. I heard him say to her, You've got to calm down. Behind them sat the once pleasant-smiling, goatee-wearing man.

I grabbed my son, I held my husband's hand and, despite the fact that I am not a particularly religious person, I prayed. The last man came out of the bathroom, and as he passed the man in the yellow shirt he ran his forefinger across his neck and mouthed the word No.

The plane landed. My husband and I gathered our bags and quickly, very quickly, walked up the jetway. As we exited the jetway and entered the airport, we saw many, many men in dark suits. A few yards further out into the terminal, LAPD agents ran past us, heading for the gate. I have since learned that the representatives of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), the Federal Air Marshals (FAM), and the Transportation Security Association (TSA) met our plane as it landed. Several men -- who I presume were the federal air marshals on board -- hurried off the plane and directed the 14 men over to the side.

Knowing what we knew, and seeing what we'd seen, my husband and I decided to talk to the authorities. For several hours my husband and I were interrogated by the FBI. We gave sworn statement after sworn statement. We wrote down every detail of our account. The interrogators seemed especially interested in the McDonald's bag, so we repeated in detail what we knew about the McDonald's bag. A law enforcement official stood near us, holding 14 Syrian passports in his hand. We answered more questions. And finally we went home.

Home Sweet Home
The next day, I began searching online for news about the incident. There was nothing. I asked a friend who is a local news correspondent if there were any arrests at LAX that day. There weren't. I called Northwest Airlines' customer service. They said write a letter. I wrote a letter, then followed up with a call to their public relations department. They said they were aware of the situation (sorry that happened!) but legally they have 30 days to reply.

I shared my story with a few colleagues. One mentioned she'd been on a flight with a group of foreign men who were acting strangely -- they turned out to be diamond traders. Another had heard a story on National Public Radio (NPR) shortly after 9/11 about a group of Arab musicians who were having a hard time traveling on airplanes throughout the U.S. and couldn't get seats together. I took note of these two stories and continued my research. Here are excerpts from an article written by Jason Burke, Chief Reporter, and published in The Observer (a British newspaper based in London) on February 8, 2004:

Terrorist bid to build bombs in mid-flight: Intelligence reveals dry runs of new threat to blow up airliners

Islamic militants have conducted dry runs of a devastating new style of bombing on aircraft flying to Europe, intelligence sources believe.

The tactics, which aim to evade aviation security systems by placing only components of explosive devices on passenger jets, allowing militants to assemble them in the air, have been tried out on planes flying between the Middle East, North Africa and Western Europe, security sources say.

...The... Transportation Security Administration issued an urgent memo detailing new threats to aviation and warning that terrorists in teams of five might be planning suicide missions to hijack commercial airliners, possibly using common items...such as cameras, modified as weapons.

...Components of IEDs [improvised explosive devices]can be smuggled on to an aircraft, concealed in either clothing or personal carry-on items... and assembled on board. In many cases of suspicious passenger activity, incidents have taken place in the aircraft's forward lavatory.

So here's my question: Since the FBI issued a warning to the airline industry to be wary of groups of five men on a plane who might be trying to build bombs in the bathroom, shouldn't a group of 14 Middle Eastern men be screened before boarding a flight?
Apparently not. Due to our rules against discrimination, it can't be done. During the 9/11 hearings last April, 9/11 Commissioner John Lehman stated that ...it was the policy (before 9/11) and I believe remains the policy today to fine airlines if they have more than two young Arab males in secondary questioning because that's discriminatory.

So even if Northwest Airlines searched two of the men on board my Northwest flight, they couldn't search the other 12 because they would have already filled a government-imposed quota.

I continued my research by reading an article entitled Arab Hijackers Now Eligible For Pre-Boarding from Ann Coulter (www.anncoulter.com):

On September 21, as the remains of thousands of Americans lay smoldering at Ground Zero, [Secretary of Transportation Norman] Mineta fired off a letter to all U.S. airlines forbidding them from implementing the one security measure that could have prevented 9/11: subjecting Middle Eastern passengers to an added degree of pre-flight scrutiny. He sternly reminded the airlines that it was illegal to discriminate against passengers based on their race, color, national or ethnic origin or religion.

Coulter also writes that a few months later, at Mr. Mineta's behest, the Department of Transportation (DOT) filed complaints against United Airlines and American Airlines (who, combined, had lost 8 pilots, 25 flight attendants and 213 passengers on 9/11 - not counting the 19 Arab hijackers). In November 2003, United Airlines settled their case with the DOT for $1.5 million. In March 2004, American Airlines settled their case with the DOT for $1.5 million. The DOT also charged Continental Airlines with discriminating against passengers who appeared to be Arab, Middle Eastern or Muslim. Continental Airlines settled their complaint with the DOT in April of 2004 for $.5 million.

From what I witnessed, Northwest Airlines doesn't have to worry about Norman Mineta filing a complaint against them for discriminatory, secondary screening of Arab men. No one checked the passports of the Syrian men. No one inspected the contents of the two instrument cases or the McDonald's bag. And no one checked the limping man's orthopedic shoe. In fact, according to the TSA regulations, passengers wearing an orthopedic shoe won't be asked to take it off. As their site states, Advise the screener if you're wearing orthopedic shoes...screeners should not be asking you to remove your orthopedic shoes at any time during the screening process. (Click here to read the TSA website policy on orthopedic shoes and other medical devices.)

I placed a call to the TSA and talked to Joe Dove, a Customer Service Supervisor. I told him how we'd eaten with metal utensils moments in an airport diner before boarding the flight and how no one checked our luggage or the instrument cases being carried by the Middle Eastern men. Dove's response was, Restaurants in secured areas -- that's an ongoing problem. We get that complaint often. TSA gets that complaint all the time and they haven't worked that out with the FAA. They're aware of it. You've got a good question. There may not be a reasonable answer at this time, I'm not going to BS you.

At the Detroit airport no one checked our IDs. No one checked the folds in my newspaper or the contents of my son's backpack. No one asked us what we'd done during our layover, if we bought anything, or if anyone gave us anything while we were in the airport. We were asked all of these questions (and many others ) three weeks earlier when we'd traveled in Europe -- where passengers with airport layovers are rigorously questioned and screened before boarding any and every flight. In Detroit no one checked who we were or what we carried on board a 757 jet liner bound for American's largest metropolis.

Two days after my experience on Northwest Airlines flight #327 came this notice from SBS TV, The World News, July 1, 2004:

The U.S. Transportation and Security Administration has issued a new directive which demands pilots make a pre-flight announcement banning passengers from congregating in aisles and outside the plane's toilets. The directive also orders flight attendants to check the toilets every two hours for suspicious packages.

Through a series of events, The Washington Post heard about my story. I talked briefly about my experience with a representative from the newspaper. Within a few hours I received a call from Dave Adams, the Federal Air Marshal Services (FAM) Head of Public Affairs. Adams told me what he knew:

There were 14 Syrians on NWA flight #327. They were questioned at length by FAM, the FBI and the TSA upon landing in Los Angeles. The 14 Syrians had been hired as musicians to play at a casino in the desert. Adams said they were scrubbed. None had arrest records (in America, I presume), none showed up on the FBI's no fly list or the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists List. The men checked out and they were let go. According to Adams, the 14 men traveled on Northwest Airlines flight #327 using one-way tickets. Two days later they were scheduled to fly back on jetBlue from Long Beach, California to New York -- also using one-way tickets.

I asked Adams why, based on the FBI's credible information that terrorists may try to assemble bombs on planes, the air marshals or the flight attendants didn't do anything about the bizarre behavior and frequent trips to the lavatory. Our FAM agents have to have an event to arrest somebody. Our agents aren't going to deploy until there is an actual event, Adams explained. He said he could not speak for the policies of Northwest Airlines.

So the question is... Do I think these men were musicians? I'll let you decide. But I wonder, if 19 terrorists can learn to fly airplanes into buildings, couldn't 14 terrorists learn to play instruments?

[dude1394]

I fear that all hell will break lose if another attack like 9/11 happens. Political Correctness be damned once it happens. I can easily see all air travel stopped from arabic countries and worse. The indiginous islamic americans had better do all they can to help keep this from happening, but I don't think it will be enough.

[Drbio]

Political correctness should be abolished. It is counter productive.

[mavsman55]

This is a bunch of moronic bull crap. Whoever's idea it was to impose the 2-arab quota should be shot. By having this law, we are basically respecting the terrorists' right to board airplanes in large groups and murder hundreds of innocent people. And as we all know, the feelings of innocent arab people are waaay more important than the lives of hundreds of innocent Americans. Duh, everyone knows that.

[FishForLunch]

Follow up to the Dry Run story from wasington times

--------------------------------

"No doubt these are dry runs for a terrorist attack," an air marshal said.
Pilots and air marshals who asked to remain anonymous told The Washington Times that surveillance by terrorists is rampant, using different probing methods.
"It's happening, and it's a sad state of affairs," a pilot said.
A June 29 incident aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 327 from Detroit to Los Angeles is similar to a Feb. 15 incident on American Airlines Flight 1732 from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.
The Northwest flight involved 14 Syrian men and the American Airlines flight involved six men of Middle Eastern descent.
"I've never been in a situation where I have felt that afraid," said Annie Jacobsen, a business and finance feature writer for the online magazine Women's Wall Street who was aboard the Northwest flight.
The men were seated throughout the plane pretending to be strangers. Once airborne, they began congregating in groups of two or three, stood nearly the entire flight, and consecutively filed in and out of bathrooms at different intervals, raising concern among passengers and flight attendants, Mrs. Jacobsen said.
One man took a McDonald's bag into the bathroom, then passed it off to another passenger upon returning to his seat. When the pilot announced the plane was cleared for landing and to fasten seat belts, seven men jumped up in unison and went to different bathrooms.
Her account was confirmed by David Adams, spokesman for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS), who said officers were on board and checked the bathrooms several times during the flight, but nothing was found.
"The FAMS never broke their cover, but monitored" the activity, Mr. Adams said. "Given the facts, they had no legal basis to take an enforcement action. But there was enough of a suspicious nature for the FAMS, passengers and crew to take notice."
A January FBI memo says suicide terrorists are plotting to hijack trans-Atlantic planes by smuggling "ready-to-build" bomb kits past airport security, and later assembling the explosives in aircraft bathrooms.
On many overseas flights, airlines have issued rules prohibiting loitering near the lavatory.
"After seeing 14 Middle Eastern men board separately (six together and eight individually) and then act as a group, watching their unusual glances, observing their bizarre bathroom activities, watching them congregate in small groups, knowing that the flight attendants and the pilots were seriously concerned and now knowing that federal air marshals were on board, I was officially terrified," Mrs. Jacobsen said.
"One by one, they went into the two lavatories, each spending about four minutes inside. Right in front of us, two men stood up against the emergency exit door, waiting for the lavatory to become available. The men spoke in Arabic among themselves ... one of the men took his camera into the lavatory. Another took his cell phone. Again, no one approached the men. Not one of the flight attendants asked them to sit down."
In an interview yesterday with The Washington Times, Mrs. Jacobsen said she was surprised to learn afterward that flight attendants are not trained to handle terrorist attacks or the situation that happened on her flight.
"I absolutely empathize with the flight attendants. They are acting with no clear protocol," she said.
Other passengers were distraught and one woman was even crying as the events unfolded.
The plane was met by officials from the FBI, Los Angeles Police Department, Federal Air Marshal Service and Transportation Security Administration. The Syrians, who were traveling on one-way tickets, were taken into custody.
The men, who were not on terrorist watch lists, were released, although their information and fingerprints were added to a database. The group had been hired as musicians to play at a casino, and the booking, hotel accommodations and return flight to New York from Long Beach, Calif., also checked out, Mr. Adams said.
"We don't know if it was a dry run, that's why we are working together with intelligence and investigative agencies to help protect the homeland," he said.
Mrs. Jacobsen, however, is skeptical the 14 passengers were innocent musicians.
"If 19 terrorists can learn to fly airplanes into buildings, couldn't 14 terrorists learn to play instruments?" she asked in the article.
The pilot confirmed Mrs. Jacobsen's experience was "terribly alike" what flight attendants reported on the San Juan flight.
He said there is "widespread knowledge" among crew members these probes are taking place.
A Middle Eastern passenger attempted to videotape out the window as the plane taxied on takeoff and, when told by a flight attendant it was not permitted, "gave her a mean look and stopped taping," said a written report of the San Juan incident by a flight attendant.
The group of six men sat near one another, pretended to be strangers, but after careful observation from flight attendants, it was apparent "all six knew each other," the report said.
"They were very careful when we were in their area to seem separate and pretended to be sleeping, but when we were out of the twilight area, they were watching and communicating," the report said.
The men made several trips to the bathroom and congregated in that area, and were told at least twice by a flight attendant to return to their seats. The suspicious behavior was relayed to airline officials in midflight and additional background checks were conducted.
A second pilot said that, on one of his recent flights, an air marshal forced his way into the lavatory at the front of his plane after a man of Middle Eastern descent locked himself in for a long period.
The marshal found the mirror had been removed and the man was attempting to break through the wall. The cockpit was on the other side.
The second pilot said terrorists are "absolutely" testing security.
"There is a great degree of concern in the airline industry that not only are these dry runs for a terrorist attack, but that there is absolutely no defense capabilities on a vast majority of airlines," the second pilot said.
Dawn Deeks, spokeswoman for the Association of Flight Attendants, said there is no "central clearinghouse" for them to learn of suspicious incidents, and flight crews are not told how issues are resolved.
She said a flight attendant reported that a passenger was using a telephoto lens to take sequential photos of the cockpit door.
The passenger was stopped, and the incident, which happened two months ago, was reported to officials. But when the attendant checked back last week on the outcome, she was told her report had been lost.
Recent incidents at the Minneapolis-St. Paul international airport have also alarmed flight crews. Earlier this month, a passenger from Syria was taken into custody while carrying anti-American materials and a note suggesting he intended to commit a public suicide.
A third pilot reported watching a man of Middle Eastern descent at the same airport using binoculars to get airplane tail numbers and writing the numbers in a notebook to correspond with flight numbers.
"It's a probe. They are probing us," said a second air marshal, who confirmed that Middle Eastern men try to flush out marshals by rushing the cockpit and stopping suddenly.

[Evilmav2]

Last Tuesday, the Dallas Morning News ran an abridged version of the article I posted above, but it is still disconcerting that most people don't know that this stuff is going on.

We are seeing documented dry runs on highjackings, we've seized documents that indicate Jihadist plans to destroy American oil refineries and chemical plants, and it's been a good three years since the maniacs were able to really hurt us...

These bastards are going to hit us again, and articles like the Jacobsen one above indicate the blows will probably come sooner rather than later.

[LRB]

That's OK Evil, because political correctness is more important than keeping our citizens save. Just because our enemy is 99% males of middle eastern descent and of the Muslim religion, it would be a travesty of the highest order if we screened people matching that description any more often than the white, blue haired little old lady of the protestant faith. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]

[FishForLunch]

Did John Edwards say that the patriot law violates peoples freedom of movement, and they want to amend it.

[Lvubun1]

The Syrian Wayne Newton
The man inadvertently behind a scare in the skies.

By Clinton W. Taylor

Annie Jacobsen's recent piece for WomensWallStreet.Com made waves. Her account of flying with her family while 14 Middle Eastern passengers acted in a threatening and apparently coordinated manner makes for a terrifying read. Her article captures her sickening sense of both uncertainty and inevitability as what might possibly have been the next 9/11 unfolded around her.

Fortunately, nothing of the sort happened. On June 29, Northwest Airlines Flight 327 landed safely in Los Angeles and a phalanx of law enforcement greeted the suspicious passengers, whisking them away for some intense interviews. Jacobsen noted a pile of Syrian passports in the hand of a law-enforcement official.

But the men checked out, and Jacobsen was told that they were "hired as musicians to play at a casino in the desert." She was not told the name of the band, nor the name of the casino. And as her story made the rounds through the Internet and beyond (the Dallas Morning News printed a condensed version earlier this week), a note of skepticism about her story crept in. Had she imagined the whole thing? Or was the government covering up a "dry run" for another terrorist attack?

Columnist and blogger Michelle Malkin confirmed some of the details of Jacobsen's story with the Federal Air Marshal's service, but the identity of the band remained the subject of much speculation. For a while the blogosphere settled on a Syrian band called Kulna Sawa as a likely candidate, but the gents at Powerline received a note from that group's tour manager explaining the band was still in Syria when all this happened. Even the mainstream media began to notice the story: New York Times reporter Joe Sharkey confirmed some of the details of the story today but admitted he, too, was unable to identify the band.

Well, I am nominally the "news director" for Stanford University's student radio station, KZSU, and I figured I'd help the Times out. There aren't that many casinos in southern California, so I had my research assistant, Mr. Google, take a look at some. An hour later I was talking to the nice folks at Sycuan Casino & Resort, near San Diego. Unlike most casinos where it's all Elvis impersonators, Paul Anka, and Linda Ronstadt — oh, wait, scratch that last one — Sycuan books the occasional "ethnic music" show, too. In August, for example, they'll have a Vietnamese night.

"Oh, do you mean Arab music?" inquired Angie, who answered Sycuan's phone. Yes, they had had an Arab act perform on July 1, an artist named Nour Mehana. Terry, Angie's supervisor at Sycuan, confirmed that he was there and that there was probably a backup band brought in, since there's no house band at Sycuan. In fractions of a second, Mr. Google found a website for Sycuan's event promoters, Anthem Artists, whose archive confirms Nour Mehana performed at Sycuan on 7/01/04.

And then I noticed something that was truly terrifying, something linking Nour Mehana to a figure of such repulsive evil that I felt a rush of *****ly fear not unlike Jacobsen's: Just one week later, the same company that arranged Mehana's performance, also booked Carrot Top!

I talked to James Cullen of Anthem Artists who confirms that Nour Mehana's large band did arrive on Northwest Flight 327. Some of them came in from Detroit, and some from Lebanon. Cullen says they never said anything about a disturbance on the flight to him, even though "I stayed in the same hotel, they were nice, they stayed right above me." He said that they were fine musicians, put on a great show, and he would work with them again in the future.

Cullen did receive a follow-up e-mail from the Department of Homeland Security, asking him to confirm that the band had played their gig at Sycuan. He had read Jacobsen's article and concluded that some "people are just paranoid." A pilot himself, Cullen insisted that the patterns Jacobsen perceived wouldn't occur to him. "We should take pride in our system. We've got to trust our system." (Cullen made it clear that he opposes "this crazy Bush Iraq war sh*t," but it is important to bear in mind that Cullen also admitted to booking Carrot Top.)

Nour Mehana (a.k.a. Noor Mehanna, or Nour Mhanna, plus various permutations of those spellings) is, in fact, Syrian. He performs both "new-agey" hits and old sentimental Middle Eastern classics in a style called Tarab. In this catchy ten-minute video of Mehana on stage, (scroll down; the name is rendered Noor Mhanan this time ) you can see he has a rather large backup band helping him out. (The resolution is low, but Jacobsen might recognize some of the band members Mehanna is interacting with.) Followers of news from Iraq may have heard about the U.S. tour of the "Iraqi Elvis." Well, Mehana comes across not as an angry jihadi, but rather more like the Syrian Wayne Newton.

[Mavdog]

yeah, we should presume all arabic men are terrorist.
and all black men are criminals and gang members.
and all mexican americans are illegal immigrants.
and all oriental americans are Chinese spies.
and all white men are KKK racist.
and all jewish men....

Presumption of guilt before presumption of innocence, that's not america, and IMHO hopefully will never be.

[mavsman]

You're wrong, Mavdog. Not all arabic men are terrorists, only groups of more than three are. Didn't you learn from Nazi-Germany's way of treating the Jews?

[u2sarajevo]

Originally posted by: mavsman
You're wrong, Mavdog. Not all arabic men are terrorists, only groups of more than three are. Didn't you learn from Nazi-Germany's way of treating the Jews?

Real cute. I know what you are trying to insinuate, however the difference is immense. First off, when the Nazi's persecuted the Jewish people it wasn't because the Jewish people had flown airplanes into two towers and killed 4000 of Germany's civilians. Second, there is a distinct difference between searching someone at a security checkpoint at the airport and gassing them in a gas chamber.

[LRB]

Originally posted by: u2sarajevo

Real cute. I know what you are trying to insinuate, however the difference is immense. First off, when the Nazi's persecuted the Jewish people it wasn't because the Jewish people had flown airplanes into two towers and killed 4000 of Germany's civilians. Second, there is a distinct difference between searching someone at a security checkpoint at the airport and gassing them in a gas chamber.

Excellent point U2. Searching someone or scrutinizing them is not the same as punishing them. If we know that our enemy is 99.9% of middle eastern decent, why waste time and resources scrutinizing people who don't match that description? Why construct laws to protect our enemy by making it illegal to search more than 2 Arabic men per flight. Didn't the 911 flights have more than 2 hijackers who were Arabic? I'm not saying shoot people, arrest people, or anything else because they're Arabic or of middle eastern decent. However being of middle eastern decent shouldn't be a shield to keep from being searched or scrutinized. That's just dumb and stupid.

[Usually Lurkin]

If you are looking for KKK members, but refuse to target southern white males for special attention, you are an idiot.

[LRB]

Originally posted by: Usually Lurkin
If you are looking for KKK members, but refuse to target southern white males for special attention, you are an idiot.

You never know, Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton might be KKK. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

[Mavdog]

Originally posted by: Usually Lurkin
If you are looking for KKK members, but refuse to target southern white males for special attention, you are an idiot.

perception is not always reality. Stereotypes really are not a good basis for ensuring security.

Of the "realms" of the KKK, here's the states on the list:
Alabama
Arkansas
North Carolina
South Carolina
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Louisiana
Maryland
Michigan
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
West Virgina
Washington

Sure are alot of non-southern states on that list. If one were seeking out KKK members and only looked for "southern white males" they would miss about a third of their reach. Clearly missing one-third of the target would qualify one as an "idiot"...and a pretty good predictor of failure.

KKK website

[LRB]

Originally posted by: Mavdog

perception is not always reality. Stereotypes really are not a good basis for ensuring security.

Of the "realms" of the KKK, here's the states on the list:
Alabama
Arkansas
North Carolina
South Carolina
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Louisiana
Maryland
Michigan
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oklahoma
Pennsylvania
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
West Virgina
Washington

Sure are alot of non-southern states on that list. If one were seeking out KKK members and only looked for "southern white males" they would miss about a third of their reach. Clearly missing one-third of the target would qualify one as an "idiot"...and a pretty good predictor of failure.

KKK website

However lif you are looking for a KKK member who committed a crime and you're stopping an equal number of black men as white men to investigate, then I definitely would say that this qualifies you for idiothood.

Bottom line if you know the description of the perp, you should narrow those you investigate to those individuals who match the description. This isn't discrimination, it's just common sense.

[mavsman55]

Originally posted by: Mavdog
yeah, we should presume all arabic men are terrorist.
and all black men are criminals and gang members.
and all mexican americans are illegal immigrants.
and all oriental americans are Chinese spies.
and all white men are KKK racist.
and all jewish men....

Presumption of guilt before presumption of innocence, that's not america, and IMHO hopefully will never be.

Mavdog, how much more proof do you need? Hundreds of innocent Americans were minutes away from dying and you still think it was right to let those terrorists on the plane?

You have it backwards. Scanning Arabic men before they board planes would not be assuming that all Arabic men are terrorists. It would merely be assuming that the majority of terrorists lately have all been Arabic men.

Lives are more important than feelings. Period.

[reeds]

Damn!! My wife read this article at work and no longer wants to fly to florida for our cruise...son of a b....h....driving from Wi to Florida doesnt sound too fun

[LRB]

Originally posted by: reeds
Damn!! My wife read this article at work and no longer wants to fly to florida for our cruise...son of a b....h....driving from Wi to Florida doesnt sound too fun

Several years ago, Galliger(sp?) the comedian had a routine where he said that terrorism is getting so bad that TWA now stood for Travel With Arabs. So he choose to always fly DELTA, Don't Even Let Them Aboard.

[dude1394]

Ann Coulter said that if an airline would refuse to have arabs fly she would pay double, of course she'd loaded. If another attack occurs, that kind of thing might happen.

[LRB]

Originally posted by: dude1394
Ann Coulter said that if an airline would refuse to have arabs fly she would pay double, of course she'd loaded. If another attack occurs, that kind of thing might happen.

Well I think not letting Arabs fly would be going too far, but concentrating our screening procedures on those who match the most likely description of potential terrorist isn't. Let's face it when police go looking for a white male rapist, there are many black females that are investigated, certainly not a porportional percentage or anywhere close to it. None of the liberal weinnie's shouts about that, and they shouldn't. It would be the height of stupidity to do that. Same way it's the height of stupidity not to pay attention to men who appear they might be of middle eastern decent, especially if they are in groups. That doens't mean that they are guilty, or have less rights, or anything other than they match the description of our enemies and need to have more attention diverted their way to see if they are our enemies.

[dude1394]

I agree that not letting arabs fly would be going too far...now. But you can certainly see a whole LOTTA intense profiling going on if more attacks happen.

[reeds]

"Well I think not letting Arabs fly would be going too far, but concentrating our screening procedures on those who match the most likely description of potential terrorist isn't. Let's face it when police go looking for a white male rapist, there are many black females that are investigated, certainly not a porportional percentage or anywhere close to it. None of the liberal weinnie's shouts about that, and they shouldn't. It would be the height of stupidity to do that. Same way it's the height of stupidity not to pay attention to men who appear they might be of middle eastern decent, especially if they are in groups. That doens't mean that they are guilty, or have less rights, or anything other than they match the description of our enemies and need to have more attention diverted their way to see if they are our enemies. "

"I agree that not letting arabs fly would be going too far...now. But you can certainly see a whole LOTTA intense profiling going on if more attacks happen. "


I realize this may be going against most on the left (my side), but I have to agree with LRB and DUDE here...maybe its profiling, maybe it is stereotyping to a degree..bottom line is this..All the terrorist were Middle Eastern..if my plane is full of middle easterns, and they start whispering, going to the bathroom in groups, etc..DAMN right I will be nervous...I will personally follow their ASS into the bathroom and ask them if they need help...is it fair to the 99.9% of middle easterns who are innocent? NO...but OH WELL...sometimes you have to say-F__K it...

[mavsman55]

Originally posted by: reeds
"Well I think not letting Arabs fly would be going too far, but concentrating our screening procedures on those who match the most likely description of potential terrorist isn't. Let's face it when police go looking for a white male rapist, there are many black females that are investigated, certainly not a porportional percentage or anywhere close to it. None of the liberal weinnie's shouts about that, and they shouldn't. It would be the height of stupidity to do that. Same way it's the height of stupidity not to pay attention to men who appear they might be of middle eastern decent, especially if they are in groups. That doens't mean that they are guilty, or have less rights, or anything other than they match the description of our enemies and need to have more attention diverted their way to see if they are our enemies. "

"I agree that not letting arabs fly would be going too far...now. But you can certainly see a whole LOTTA intense profiling going on if more attacks happen. "


I realize this may be going against most on the left (my side), but I have to agree with LRB and DUDE here...maybe its profiling, maybe it is stereotyping to a degree..bottom line is this..All the terrorist were Middle Eastern..if my plane is full of middle easterns, and they start whispering, going to the bathroom in groups, etc..DAMN right I will be nervous...I will personally follow their ASS into the bathroom and ask them if they need help...is it fair to the 99.9% of middle easterns who are innocent? NO...but OH WELL...sometimes you have to say-F__K it...

Reeds, this is the smartest thing I've ever heard you say. No sarcasm involved.

Wait a sec..

Drbio, is that you?

[dude1394]

May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't.
- General George Patton Jr