Aug 17 2006
WV Airline Threat Update And Speculation
Update: Well it seems the incident was nothing. The headline of this article still claims there were explosives while the body says the bottles contained nothing special. I guess we are going to be having these false alarms for a while. They are better than missing something. And this points out the futility of trying to stop an attack in the execution phase verses the planning stage as happened in the UK Airliner Plot. Somehow we need to curb the liberal insanity that is attempting to shut down our intelligence gathering efforts because some journalists and lawyers find it tough to talk to Al Qaeda overseas. We cannot rely solely on these baggae searches. – End Update
Folks, the latest news is that a the woman, who is 28 year old an of Pakistani decent, had two vials of a gel-like liquid in her bag as she tried to get on a plane. Let me explain how this might have been planned out if this is a legitimate attack (and since the terminal is still shut down I think this is a reasonable assumption). There is little chance of getting through major airport security with these components. But there is some chance you could get through a small regional airport and from there into a major hub like Atlanta, Chicago or Denver. At these major hubs you could even meet up with fellow travellers on a connecting flight and therefore bring the various components together from different parts of the nation. Once n the terminals security is nearly non-existant. Remember, these liquids were meant to be mixed and connected to other devices in the air, so the meeting of a terrorist cell is best done from different starting points. But the idea is still the same. Try and penetrate security at a weak point and then make your way to a prime target.
Update: Notice anything odd about the destination and the flight in this article:
She was heading to Detroit.
The woman was still at the airport late Thursday afternoon, but was not under arrest, said FBI spokesman Jeff Killeen.
A screener noticed the bottle in the woman’s carry-on bag as she prepared to board a 9:15 a.m. flight to Charlotte, N.C., said Tri-State Airport Authority President Jim Booton. The terminal was evacuated shortly before noon.
I know about flying and bizarre connector flights, but when heading from the WV-KY border to Detroit it is rare to be going through Charlotte.
“Update: Notice anything odd about the destination and the flight in this article:
She was heading to Detroit.
* * *
I know about flying and bizarre connector flights, but when heading from the WV-KY border to Detroit it is rare to be going through Charlotte.”
I’m confused, AJ. Notwithstanding your knowledge, how come 12 out of 12 itineraries from Huntington – Tri-State/Milton J Ferguson Field Airport (HTS) to Detroit as offered by USAir at its website (for, say, tomorrow) all pass thru Charlotte ? Doggone it. 12 out of 12.
And, the FBI FIB’s and calls this “cosmetics.” Explosive cosmetics; a step up from Botox.
And, now? The women are in on the plans. And, don’t care.
Also, you’ll notice this stuff is hard to track. Even if you put together flight manifests, this stuff is hard to track! The woman would have been given a “pass.”
On the other hand, ONCE ON A PLANE, they need to “get together with others.” And/or use the John.
That means all passengers have to be alert. Have to notice when passengers leave the toilet, and they go in. To look around as if they’re searching for a dropped $20-bill.
And, if people seem to know each other? Here, again, something the public needs to be alert to.
That woman named Mayo, who pee’d in the aisle, when a flight attendant wouldn’t let her use one bathroom; but sent her to another? She was “dropped by two male passengers.”
I don’t remember a time passengers would come to the aid of others like that. But in today’s world. On today’s jets, even if security is lax; passengers are wide awake.
Why does the FBI continue to downplay this? I’ll guess they don’t trust the media. So they wait for the media to move away, and lose interest.
New system? With the Internet a lot more people are aware; than unaware. Especially those who travel. Since most travelers, by air, can read and write. I’d bet a majority have computer skills. And, tools.
So, there are things in place that stop terrorists; as long as articles like this keep coming through. We’re not under the radar!
And lots of people are getting hopping mad.
“Regional Airport Re-Opens After Explosive Scare
Aug 18, 2006 12:07 AM
Regional Airport Re-Opens After Explosive Scare
Chemical tests on the liquid contents of two bottles confiscated from a female passenger at Tri-State Airport have come back negative for explosives. ”
http://www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=5295671&nav=menu181_2
Hydrogen peroxide based bombs and explosive depressurization of aircraft.
See this piece at Rocket’s Brain Trust:
UPDATE – United Flight from GB declared emergency
RBT
This is just a theory/thought I’ve had, and there’s a good chance that I’m way off. But this case along with the incident on the UK-DC flight that was diverted to Logan make me think of a probing of defenses rather than a direct attack. In other words could all of this be more research? Just a thought.
This might well be a probing attempt. However, most US Air flights to anywhere go through Charlotte or Pittsburgh. As noted in the link from RBT the amount of material needed is fairly large. Also the active components have a nasty smell (Perhaps airline passengers and crew should be exposed to this smell to better be able to ID it?).
I suspect that the terrorists are barking up the wrong tree with this type of plot. Which means they are ignorant, think we are stupid, or it is just a distraction, or some combination.
All the more reason for actively scrutinizing passengers and their BEHAVIOR instead of searching babies and military personnel IN UNIFORM. I don’t give a tinker’s damn if someone gets their feelings hurt because they were singled out and questioned! Oh my goodness…you were questioned? How dreadful! You must be scarred for life!
We need to grow up, ignore this political correctness crap, and stop letting the Libs (and the Islamo’s) bully us into submission especially when it comes to security. If we do not take care of this today with some common sense measures, it will require far stronger measures in the future and that will be truly dreadful.
The singular difference between FDR and Bush is that FDR was adept at getting people to rally round. Was he politically liked? No. Did he get bad press? Sometimes. H. L. Mencken hated his guts. That’s why Winston Churchill’s writings were popular; and remain popular. While nobody reads the hardnosed Mencken, who dipped his pen into poisoning ink. That’s just the way it is.
But Bush never had oodles of charisma that translated into screen strength. While on “one-to-one” he’s terrific. But people don’t see it.
Maybe, in a similar vein you wouldn’t recognize someone who was button-down-funny-Bostonian. And, that kind of humor also doesn’t transfer well to the stage. (Small screen? Sure. Seinfeld socked it out of the ballpark.)
But Bush is unfortunately not surrounded by anything other than a hostile press. And, this is the breakdown. Also, FDR did NOT have to contend with the UN! Woodrow Wilson’s League of Nations had folded. And, the newer version of the diplomatic pants dancers corps hadn’t been unfolded.
Hard to say that those who do those propaganda tricks don’t ultimately have to fold their tents, ya know? Vaudeville’s gone. Every single decade, so far, from 1900, has NEW THINGS in them. Sometimes repeated. We had the “Gay Twenties” and the flower children of the 60’s. We had hemlines go up from having been on the floor. We’ve had melodic broadway musicals turn to tin junk. But that’s what happens.
So what’s in store for the media, ahead? It will look like nothing. After the shop closes on what they’re doing now.
While the Internet thrives. Every single day people come to Internet sites. And, people learn to keep their eyes wide open.
I wish Bush was a better stage performer. But you can’t take Tony Snow and merge him into Bush at all.
And, Bush is getting setbacks. I don’t think he cares. He knows what he wants. And, we just have to stay calm, enough, until we get there.
Again, people who travel aren’t stupid. So many people look like quiet sheep as they stand in the lines to get onto airplanes. But once up there, why not assume they can be stadium seats? How many terrorists get on board? Choose a number. Then figure out what happens when the people in the stands go wild.
Meanwhile, we’ve stopped, AND THE INTERNET HAS ADVERTISED stuff that we’d have not assumed was harmful. The first clue? How long ago was Annie Jacobsen’s flight? The one the FBI poo-poo’d. And, Michelle Makin gave legs to.
Do you notice that Michelle Malkin has a voice on the Internet? Have you noticed the same, here. And, at Little Green Footballs? I, myself stop off at about a dozen sites each day. And, I’m amazed that so many in the public are connected. Even though President Bush is not connecting any dots. This flaw would have been fatal back in the 30’s and 40’s. We’re grown ups, now. We’ve lost our innocence. Can’t sew it back closed, now.