Where Liberty Dwells, there is my country

On Christmas Day, a Nigerian jihadist, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, tries to blow up Northwest Flight #253 from Amsterdam to Detroit.  A quick-thinking Dutchman, the terrorist’s incompetence, and, no doubt, some luck helped too.  The West has a serious problem, Islamic fundamentalist terrorism, that our elites want to sweep under the rug.

The terrorists are not going to stop, and they will become ever-more innovative as they exploit the seems in air security.
 

John Leonard at Americanthinker.com provides a chronology of terrorist dry-runs and suspicious acts since 1999.

Chronology of Pattern Behavior

Once the point had been reached where additional information is no
longer forthcoming about these two flights in the foreseeable future,
I didn’t know where to look for more information. An experienced
reporter working on these stories suggested I turn my attention
backwards to seeing whether any dots could be connected to incidents
on past flights.

America West Flight 90 — Nov 19, 1999. In this pre-September 11th
incident, two passengers speaking Arabic roamed the plane without
permission and attempted to enter the cockpit in what has been
described by the 9/11 commission in their report as a dry run.
“Students” Muhammed al-Qudhaieen and Hamdan al-Shalawi were placed in
custody and removed from the flight. Bomb-sniffing dogs were brought
to search the plane. The airline was sued for discrimination, but the
case was dismissed.

Northwest Flight 327 — Jun 29, 2004. Described by flight marshals as
a terrorist dry run, thirteen men of Syrian descent changed seats,
congregated in the aisles, used the bathrooms excessively, appeared
nervous, and behaved in a strange manner long enough to draw attention
and concern from fellow passengers. Air marshals on the plane
instructed the flight crew to radio ahead for law enforcement to meet
the plane when it landed in Los Angeles.

US Airways Flight 300 — November 20, 2006. The infamous case of the
flying imams, who allegedly changed seats in order to take control of
every entry and exit route from the plane, ignored their assigned
seats, requested unnecessary seat belt extensions, and disrupted the
flight. The unused seat belt extenders were left lying on the airplane
floor. Hmmm. Webbed strap belts with metal heads attached — why would
anyone be concerned about that? Who worries about customers acting
strangely who make obviously unnecessary and unusual special requests?

The imams were removed from the plane but cried discrimination after
the fact. They sued the airline and received an undisclosed
settlement. CAIR and the imams declared victory.

AirTran Flight 175 — Jan 1, 2009. According to an article published
by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, nine Muslims traveling to an
Islamic conference were removed from the plane after two members of
the group allegedly engaged in a debate about the safest location to
sit in the event of a bombing on the plane. The conversation alarmed
other passengers, who alerted the flight crew and caused the plane to
be diverted. According to Doug Hagmann in the Canada Free Press:

[N]one of the remaining 95 passengers made it to their ultimate
destinations on time, AirTran refunded some tickets and made other
booking arrangements due to the incident, which cost the airline
dearly in time, money, and passenger goodwill.

A press release from AirTran found at EuroInvestor.co.ukincredibly
reported that AirTran actually rewarded the nine Muslims who disrupted
the flight, saying:

The airline has refunded the air fares of the nine passengers detained
for questioning, has agreed to reimburse the passengers for expenses
incurred by taking another airline and has also offered to transport
the passengers home to Washington, DC, free of charge.

So let me get this straight: the nine Muslims who caused the flight
delay and scared other passengers profited from their misconduct?
Their airfare was refunded and they got a free flight home? Sounds
like a pretty good deal to me…is this a great country, or what?

United flight 22 — September 28, 2009. According to the KTLA.com, two
men of apparent Middle Eastern descentwere removed from a flight at
LAX, and the flight was delayed while the bomb squad searched the
plane. An article in the LA Times reported the incident as follows:
A law enforcement source said at least one of the men ran into a
restroom on the plane and appeared to hide while the New York-bound
jet was taxiing on the runway, according to the source, who spoke on
the condition of anonymity because the case was ongoing.
AirTran 297 — Nov 17, 2009. A group of ethnic passengers used
electronic devices on tarmac preparing for takeoff, changed seats,
moved around, ignored flight attendants’ instructions, and caused
flight delay as the plane returned to terminal.

UA 227 — Dec 9, 2009. A group of passengers believed to be of Middle
Eastern descent changed seats and allegedly moved other passengers’
luggage at the gate while the plane prepared for departure, prompting
their removal from the flight and bomb-sniffing dogs to check the
baggage.

Two possibilities that come immediately to mind are either that these
incidents are orchestrated as a ploy to create a scenario to litigate
for profit like the imams from US Airways Flight 300 — or something
more sinister is in the works. In the aftermath of Fort Hood, can we
afford to ignore warning signs of abnormal or pattern behavior any
longer?

It is clear that CAIR, the threat of lawsuits, and political correctness united to make us less safe. We were fortunate this time.

We call on the Obama administration to declare a new policy, not just protecting but praising, those who speak up when they witness Muslims or others behaving in a suspicious manner.