Annie Jacobsen is vindicated
Wednesday May 30, 2007
Remember the case from a few summers ago of the Arab men behaving strangely on that flight to LA -- the one passenger Annie Jacobsen made a big deal over, and was subsequently pilloried by CAIR and some government officials...
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About Crunchy Con
Rod Dreher is an editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News, and author of "Crunchy Cons" (Crown Forum), a nonfiction book about conservatives, most of them religious, whose faith and political convictions sometimes put them at odds with mainstream conservatives. The views expressed in this blog are his own.
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The article to which you linked says nothing of the sort re: vindication of Ms. Jacobsen's account. The report also says that a background check in the FBI's National Crime Information Center database, which was performed June 18 as part of a visa-extension application, produced "positive hits" for past criminal records or suspicious behavior for eight of the 12 Syrians, who were traveling in the U.S. as a musical group. What does it take to register a "positive hit" for a "past criminal record or suspicious behavior?" Is a hit for "suspicious behavior" simply having the audacity to be caught FWA?
In addition, the band's promoter was listed in a separate FBI database on case investigations for acting suspiciously aboard a flight months earlier. I reiterate my question - in the climate of fear fostered by the Bush Administration in the wake of 9/11 and this debacle of a war, what constitutes "suspicious behavior?" FWA?
Hardly vindication. A questionably sourced story using a notorious whistleblower as the only real source calling it a "dry run." Given the WT track record on issues of credibility, call me dubious.
Weak.
Ignoring the trolls. A questionably sourced story??? It's practically ALL the US government's investigation of what happened and how the initial probe was handled (the latter is what an IG audit does). All but two sentences of that reported were redacted when the report was made public a year ago. Outside sources are primarily used for comment. And using whistleblowers is what every journalist does. It's just about the only way to learn of government malfeasance. Were Joe Wilson, Colleen Rowley or "Deep Throat" just "notorious whistleblowers"? One was even anonymous. (Note that I am deliberaely picking examples "from the left.")
Note as to Ms. Jacobsen's newest offering about the Arab dissappearing on his way to Arkansas-"release him!". And these are the same bureacrats who would run the ICE bureaucracy Bush would have us believe can process 12-20 million illegals efficiently, and do so within 24 hours. Just great.
Buy guns, keep the SUV gassed up, and have some bottled water and cash on hand too.
This story was definitively debunked by the times in 2004. Sally Donnelly interviewed the senior Air Marshal on Flight 327. The Air Marshal said: "Nothing my main partner or I saw on Flight 327 brought us anywhere near a conclusion that we considered breaking our cover or deploying as we've been trained. And we never came close to drawing our weapons." And according to Anonymous Liberal:
The [Washington] Times itself notes that the men on the plane (who were part of a band) were all checked out by the FBI and released. None of them were ever arrested. If this was a "dry run" of some terrorist plot, why hasn't the U.S. government arrested or detained these men? Why has this band/terrorist cell been allowed to freely operate and to continue playing gigs? Remember, we're talking about the same government here that locked up Jose Padilla--a U.S. citizen--for years without any process because he supposedly planned to "separate plutonium from nuclear material by rapidly swinging over his head a bucket filled with fissionable material." Here's the link to both the Times piece and the post by Anonymous Liberal. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,676558,00.html http://www.anonymousliberal.com/2007/05/hysteria-in-skies-and-right-wing-blogs.html
What I love most is that even though the Administration has lost *all* credibility worldwide (and that includes here at home, mind you), "troo b'leevers" like Victor will buy whatever they sell, whenever they sell it to avoid any semblance of dissonance.
Jacobson appears to get in a panic everytime she sees a Muslim man. Sad.
"If this was a dry run... why hasn't the U.S. government detained or arrested these men?" Perhaps because they behaved in an unusual manner, but did not break any laws (e.g., interfering with the flight crew)? If I walk into a bank, don't say a word to the teller, but just slide a note across the counter, you can bet I will be watched closely. But, unless the note says something along the lines of "I have a gun and want all the money in your drawer," I will not be arrested- I didn't break any laws, just behaved suspiciously.
If the last thing you saw on this story was 2004, you're way, way behind. It was not at all debunked. This band was not arrested because they all left the country. Trolls indeed -- those who have followed this story through the years know better.
There's really no point in noting the fact that none of these guys were arrested for anything, nor have any of them blown anyone up.
When it comes to the Muslim Menace (tm), all reason flies right out the window. There's no innocent until proven guilty with that set.
~TV, you really don't understand the point of the story, and the "dry runs," do you? In doing some back reporting on the Annie Jacobsen story back when it first broke, I spoke to a retired top airline official. He told me that these "dry runs" were going on all the time, and that pilots and flight personnel were reporting these things constantly. He gave me details.
Very troubling. Dubious Dan and tv might want to note that the WT story is about the INSPECTOR GENERAL's report, which discusses more than just the leader's arrest recrd. You can read the evidence presented in the 51-page pdf file linked in the WT story.
The actor James Woods reported having witnessed a dry run by some of the 9/11 hijackers in the summer of 2001, and identified them through photos. The idea that this is no big deal or a minor goofy thing is dangerously ill-informed.
Having been a bank teller in a younger life, if you think mere "suspicous behavior" in a bank as above is no big deal, you would've suprisingly found the guard's .38 in you face if you pulled such stupidity(though I have no idea what protocols banks employ these days). That kind of suspicous behavior in that context is called probable cause.
"those who have followed this story through the years know better." If you've been relying on the WT, Jacobson, and other Islamopanics, I'd argue you've been not following the story as much as whipping yourself into a paranoid frenzy.
He told me that these "dry runs" were going on all the time, and that pilots and flight personnel were reporting these things constantly. He gave me details. So, Rod, what would you have anyone actually *do* about it? There's nothing illegal about acting weird. Would you disallow Arabs from flying in groups? Would you disallow Arabs from flying at all?
I mean, if you're not advocating action, what is the point of the post, besides "nyah nyah I told you so?" None of those men are guilty of anything other than Flying While Arab.
"None of those men are guilty of anything other than Flying While Arab"...and on a terrorist dry run. One thing you can do is have the authorities question such men more competently than they did in this case, as the report--which tv and dan stubbornly refuse to address--concludes.
Bugg, Hopefully a guard would confront someone in the example I used. My point was that an arrest would not occur unless you actually broke a law, IMO. If I'm wrong about that, of if the suspicious behavior conflicts with laws I'm not aware of, just let me know.
TV, What would you actually do about it? Well, encourage people to be vigilant (but not vigilantes)- aware of surroundings, prepared if things look suspicious, report suspicions and have them looked into, oppose attempts to intimidate by lawsuits (e.g., the CAIR "John Doe" issue after the imam's "Flying While Muslim" brouhaha), etc.
At least that's what I'd do about it.
For those men to be on a "dry run," does it not stand to reason there'd eventually be a "wet run" involving them? How many of them have blown up planes?
At least 19. But, who's counting?
So 19 of those 13 men blew up planes? Uh... yeah.
Dreher -- Your link doesn't support your post. A disgruntled, fired ex- air marshall saisd it was a 'terrorist dry run'. The Inspector General says nothing of the sort. Here's a quote from the TSA response dated Feb 2, 2006 to the Inspector General report (in the linked .pdf).
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 If you've got more information than the TSA, Rod, post it. Otherwise, retract.
As you may know, I was referring to the 19 9/11 hijackers.
I would be a little surprised if after a "dry run" which apparently ended in the participants being questioned by law enforcement, they went ahead and did a "wet run" anyway. They just might have suspected they were being monitored for further suspicious activity.
Ikram, The claim was that these men were acting like they were on a terrorist dry run and that their backgrounds should have been checked. This is consistent with the conclusion that there was no conclusive evidence for the conclusion that they were actually on a terrorist dry run. From the WT summary of the report: '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 extended the visas one week after the June 29, 2004, incident.
The report also says that a background check in the FBI's National Crime Information Center database, which was performed June 18 as part of a visa-extension application, produced "positive hits" for past criminal records or suspicious behavior for eight of the 12 Syrians, who were traveling in the U.S. as a musical group. In addition, the band's promoter was listed in a separate FBI database on case investigations for acting suspiciously aboard a flight months earlier. He was detained a third time in September on a return trip to the U.S. from Istanbul, the details of which were redacted.'
Reluctant Penitent -- The Inspector general's argument. as I understand it, is that the TSA does nopt have adequate procedures in place and / or did not follow those procedures. The words "dry -run"were never used, nor was it insinuated. Fell free to quote the actual inspector general report. I'd love to hear it if I',m wrong. But don't quote the WT -- it's a hack newspaper. Completely unrelaible. especially since the orginal source is easlity available. Again, Dreher -- either cite your evidence or retract
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