Terror in the Skies, Again?

Terror in the skys, Again?
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...........

womenswallstreet.com...

Last Christmas, I had to go back to Australia from Holland due to an illness in the family. Because the cost of a flight in December was very high, I had to take the long way. So I was forced to book a 36 hour flight from Amsterdam to Chicago, then LA, Sydney, and finally Melbourne.
I think most of us can remember all the terror alerts that were released the week before Christmas. I remember it very well, as I had arrived at LA International airport right on Christmas Eve.
Before we touched down, the pilot made an announcement that if family or friends were going to pick any of us up, they weren't going to be there.
After hearing this, I really started to panic and thought that this was most unusual.
When I arrived, I checked the internet and all the terror alerts were splashed across most pages. Knowing this, I wondered whether or not I was going to arrive safely. When it really came down to it, I knew I still had about 14 hours left to get to Australia. So I figured that if anything were to happen, there wasn't anything that I could do about it.

Getting back to the above article, I was surprised at the writer's observation of security protocols. My experience of security at LAX and Chicago contradicted this. I waited hours in Chicago where they went through everybodies stuff, including mine. I had my shoes off, the whole deal.
She claimed that security didn't thoroughly check the belongings of those men on her flight. Is there no continuity when it comes to security checks?
It seemed good for my flight, but not for hers?
We often read about extra security being enforced, extra money being spent. But are we really seeing it happen? Or is it all just an illusion?
I think it might just be an illusion.

[edit on 16-7-2004 by dolphinguy2004]

It probably is just an illusion, theres far too much room for error when it comes to screeners who probably arent paid very well and are working long hours on their feet, its impossible not to become fatigued and not very alert. And if they are too PC to not thoroughly check 14 arab men because its discriminatory, well then they probably will lose another plane or two. And if air marshalls cant engage anybody until an act of terrorism is in progress, what would they have done if they had built a bomb in the bathroom and detonated it? 14 arab men acting in that manner on board a plane would have to know how that would be taken nowadays, im sure they could feel the tension and see the reactions of frightened women. They had to be testing our weakness. If the arab men were screened more thoroughly and they were innocent, they should understand and be thankful they will be on a safe flight, if they take issue then they probably have something to hide. I understand civil rights but with that many lives on the line, we should apologize to them for the inconvenience, thank them for their cooperation, and let them know its not a personal attack or an act of hate, but an act of self-preservation in these times when so many from their land want to do us harm. If they are not going to check such a suspicious group because of red tape, then it seems maybe our current administration here in the US is hoping for another attack to polarize us to back Bush because he knows were gonna vote him out this November. Not that I believe the government is directly behind 9/11 or other attacks, but I do think they leave the door unlocked, knowing the threat is there, and blame CIA errors when something does happen, that way they can request more money for defense and intelligence when were all fired up and out for revenge.

[edit on 16-7-2004 by jd27]

A long thread on this HERE.

kinda scary reading....

Originally posted by curme
A long thread on this HERE.

As curme has said it is already being discussed - it is actually our Top Story on ATSNN - probably best to continue any discussion there....